Nothing Lasts Forever
by HilaryHilary
Summary: Single fathers Nathan and Lucas decide to pool their experience and raise their young daughters together; a plan that works perfectly until the girls grow up, decide they want a mother, and choose the perfect candidate. Naley, Brucas. AU.
1. Daddy's Girls

**Nothing Lasts Forever**

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Author's note: So hopefully at least some of you remember who I am! I know it's been a long time since I've posted on this board, but I'm finally inspired again so I hope you guys like this one, because I love writing it. Obviously this is severely AU, as almost anything I've ever written has been.

Summary: _Single fathers Nathan and Lucas Scott decide to pool their experience and raise their young daughters together; a plan that works perfectly until the girls grow up, decide they want a mother, and choose the perfect candidate. Naley._

* * *

Chapter One: Daddy's Girls

Nathan Scott raised his eyebrows at the sight of an eleven year old girl at the foot of his driveway, dressed in sweats and dribbling a basketball hopefully. He smiled at her, suspecting he knew the reason for her early rising.

He slowed his strides, pull headphones out of his ears and stopped to talk to her. He reflected that she looked like him, surprisingly so. More like him than his own daughter did.

"What's up, Cass?" he asked fondly.

"Nothing. I woke up early and Celia told me to go away and Daddy told me to go asleep and then I tried to play with Shannon but..." Nathan sighed in made up irritation. By the time his niece began rambling about the family dog he knew the extent of her woes. She let out a squeal of surprise when he easily stole the basketball out of her inexperienced hands and made a basket.

The eleven year old eagerly followed her uncle at a jog, her younger, leaner body able to dodge in front of him and catch the basket as it rebounded. He laughed fondly and allowed her to make a graceful, arcing freethrow into the net mounted on the garage door.

Later they made their way into the house, sweating, talking proudly about the finer points of their spontaneous game. Nathan smiled and stopped in the kitchen doorway when they reached it, watching his elder brother make sandwiches and talk with the fourth resident of their house – Nathan's own daughter, eleven year old Cecilia Grace Scott. The young girl, shorter and blonder than her cousin, looked up from the sandwiches with a smile. Nathan grinned as she ran across the kitchen toward him.

Celia stopped, skeptical, when she saw his sweat stained shirt, her call of "Daddy!" cut short. He laughed and scooped her into his arms, disregarding her protests. He knew he had to relish her childhood, that they both did. Childhood was within their abilities, they weren't sure how they were going to handle what came after.

Cassie, Lucas' daughter, walked toward him and began to assist him with making the lunches. Letting Celia out of his embrace, Nathan joined them.

"Cassie, where did you go this morning?" asked her father, Lucas. "I didn't think you'd be so eager to get out of bed this morning."

"We were shooting hoops outside," explained Nathan, winking at his niece. Celia snuggled closer to her father, and Nathan was vaguely aware that she was worried that he loved her cousin more than her because she was not athletic like Cassie, did not enjoy all the same things. Nathan smiled at her reassuringly. In their housing situation both girls looked to the two men more or less equally, with conflict rising rarely. They all accepted the occasional speed bump with grace, knowing it was better than them all living apart.

"Did you win?" asked Lucas of his daughter. Cassie grinned.

"Kicked his butt. Right, Uncle Nathan?" she asked.

"That's right."

Cassie giggled and switched sides of the counter so that she was standing next to Celia. Whom, despite the fact that she was not athletic and could be girly at sometimes, and looked more like Lucas than her own father, Nathan, was really her best friend.

"You guys ready? You don't need anything?" asked Nathan anxiously. At times, such as the previous week when they'd all gone back to school shopping, he really did feel like having Celia's mother around would have been useful. But of course, that could not be helped.

"We're fine. You brought us enough paper to last us until high school, Daddy," said Celia with an exasperated eye roll.

"Well, you'll still need paper then anyway. Are you still in your pajamas?" he asked, taking a proper look at his young daughter and realizing that she was dressed in a pair of flannel pajamas, blonde hair messily over her shoulders. He knew for a fact that his style conscious daughter had not gone to school with her hair unbrushed on any day since the start of the second grade. Let alone the _first _day.

Celia Scott scampered up the stairs, followed at a more sedate by her cousin.

* * *

Nathan turned to his brother with a smile after the girls had disappeared upstairs and high, animated chatter began to float down.

"So you're taking them in today?" he asked. Lucas nodded.

"Yeah, I'll make sure they get to their new classroom. Grade _six_," he said, pronouncing the integer with alarm. "Room 208, Ms James."

"Okay. Get them early so they can sit together. Do you remember the third grade fiasco?" asked Nathan sternly. Lucas chuckled, nodding as the two girls ran back down the stairs. Celia now dressed in a summer dress, her blonde hair combed neatly under a hair band, Cassie in jeans and a t – shirt, her dark hair in a ponytail. Both girls hugged Nathan quickly before following Lucas out to his car, arguing about the passenger seat as they went.

* * *

Both girls sighed in relief when they entered the elementary school and it was revealed that they had in fact come early. Lucas took one girl by each hand and followed them as they lead them to their new classroom, on the second floor at the end of the hallway. They stopped short as soon as they entered the classroom, suddenly shy.

The young woman had been scanning papers at her desk when they entered, but hurriedly bounced up. Her eyes went first to the two young girls and she smiled encouragingly.

"Hi! My name is Miss James, I'm going to be your teacher this year. You two are the first ones here! What are your names?" she asked. Lucas studied her critically as she walked toward them. She was younger than any teacher they'd ever had, clearly just out of college. Her long blonde hair was tied back, as if she were trying to make herself appear older than she was. Her eyes were large and brown. She was, he realized, a beautiful woman and not at all teacher esque. She stopped in front of the two girls.

"Cassie Scott," said Cassie. Celia elbowed her.

"She means your full name, stupid. Mine is Cecilia Grace Scott," she said regally. The teacher hid a smirk and met Lucas' eyes over their heads.

"Cassidy Ariel Scott," replied Cassie. Miss James nodded and checked the two of them off a list she was carrying.

"Hey. I'm Lucas Scott," said Lucas, walking forward and extending a hand. They shook, but her attention went quickly back to the two girls. Lucas glanced at his watch and realized he was late for work. Looking back up at the teacher, he decided he had left the girls in capable hands and after a quick hug apiece, hurried back to his car.

Celia and Cassie both looked expectantly at their teacher once Lucas had gone.

"So you want me to call you Cassie?" She asked. "And you're Cecilia?"

"Celia," corrected Celia. Miss James nodded.

"Okay, that's fine. Take your pick of desks, then you can go out and play if..." She trailed off as the two girls ran off to pick a pair of desks, shoved into a pair as all the desks in the room were. She smiled as they unloaded their backpacks and meticulously began to arrange their shiny new school supplies in their desks.

"You two are both Scotts. That was your dad?" asked Miss James, aware that this could be a sensitive subject. Celia spoke ahead of Cassie, an idea occurring to her instantly.

"He's one of them," she said casually. Cassie rolled her eyes but allowed the misinformation to slide as their teacher raised her eyebrows in surprise but moved back to her desk.

Celia looked sideways at her cousin and giggled. Pretending they were sisters was something they had been doing for years, but they'd never before had a teacher who was new to the school and therefore believed them. This was going to be interesting.


	2. Parallel Lives

Chapter Two: Parallel Lives

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Author's note: Thanks for the response, it was awesome. I hope you guys like this one just as much. Or more, preferably. I'll try to update again this weekend.

* * *

Nathan listened as his daughter chatted happily about her new teacher, who was apparently young and pretty and let them have class outside when it was warm out.

He listened indulgently. He had always been aware that Celia, who had been without a mother since birth, was extra enthusiastic about potential role models. He wished that he and Lucas had been more able to provide for her, but neither had been able to keep a relationship going since the death and abandonment of their respective wives.

Celia continued to chatter as they walked up the walkway to where she and Cassie would be spending the evening while Lucas and Nathan tackled Parent Teacher night at school. The two were to be babysat but one of Lucas and Nathan's single parent friend, Jake Jagielski, who had an eleven year old daughter of his own. They'd met him in a support group when they'd decided to move in together, and had found him to be a good friend and a solid babysitter. This was particularly useful on nights such as this – it was rare that they went out together without the girls, but Parent Teacher night was something they'd decided was better to tackle together.

Lucas was waiting in Jake's living room with Jake when Nathan and Celia entered. Shrieks coming from upstairs informed them that Cassie was upstairs with Jake's daughter Jenny, and she ran up to join them. Nathan dropped onto a sofa.

"You don't have your interview today, Jake?" asked Nathan of their friend. Jake shook his head. Though there were many single mothers at the elementary school, they remained the only single fathers.

"Tomorrow. You guys will take Jenny?" he asked. They nodded. Jake was younger than them, having had Jenny with his then girlfriend during high school.

"Of course. The girls want to go to the movies, so maybe Jenny should stay over?" suggested Nathan. Jake nodded. Nathan absently wondered what Jake would do with his evening alone. Jake, who had been left by his girlfriend years ago and had had to go through a messy custody battle, had even less of a social life than the Scott brothers did.

Lucas stood abruptly. Nathan glanced at his watch and stood as well.

"We have to go. Interview's in twenty minutes."

"Just remember that Celia's lactose intolerant, and Cassie isn't but will pretend to be to get out of having to drink milk, and..." Nathan spoke hurriedly to Jake, but Lucas cut him off.

"Dude, you're such a woman. Come on."

Nathan playfully shoved his brother but then followed him agreeably to the car.

* * *

"Do you know her name?" asked Nathan, as they walked through the familiar halls of their daughters' school. Lucas frowned to himself.

"Miss James? She didn't say," he said.

Nathan nodded and followed his younger brother into the classroom. As Lucas went to go greet the teacher, sitting behind a desk, Nathan looked around the classroom. It was fairly standard. Several maps on the wall, a whiteboard with markers. He picked out where Celia and Cassie sat by the supplies that were on their desks. After and Lucas had finished exchanging pleasantries, he walked toward her. When they finally met eyes, his widened in amazement.

He remembered vaguely that Lucas had met this woman, but was astonished that he'd never spoke of her in greater detail.

She was younger than any teacher Celia and Cassie had ever had, significantly so. He estimated her to be younger than even he and Lucas. She was wearing a knee length pencil skirt and a simple white blouse, but did not look particularly teacherlike. Her hair was long, straight and blonde, but was tied in a matronly style at the nape of her neck. His eyes fell to her left hand as he shook her right. No ring.

"Hey. I'm Nathan Scott," he said, smiling flirtatiously. Briefly, he felt as he had as a teenager, the biggest stud on campus.

"Haley James," she said. Haley. Now they knew. "I already met your partner, Lucas."

Nathan and Lucas exchanged glances as they sat down together. It was an interesting way of phrasing their relationship.

Haley shuffled through some papers on her desk.

"So are the girls doing okay?" asked Nathan. He hated Parent Teacher interviews – it always made him feel like he was back at school, as if he were being graded again.

"They're great. They seem to be really close to one of the other girls, Jenny Jagielski. Cassie plays a lot of soccer with the boys on the playground, but Celia seems to be more of a social climber," said Haley with a giggle.

"We're hoping to curb that before she gets to high school. I remember the popular girls in high school," said Nathan jokingly. Haley smiled.

"The twins everyone about their two Daddies. They're remarkably well adjusted," said Haley. Nathan and Lucas exchanged looks once more, this time startled.

"Wait, what? Cassie and Celia told you they were twins?" demanded Lucas.

"And that we were what, married?" asked Nathan. He refrained from cracking up, guessing that it was not the best idea.

Haley, a new teacher, looked utterly lost. She floundered for a moment.

"I'm sorry. I assumed. Celia told me you were one of her fathers on the first day, and you're all called Scott, and you came in together. I just assumed..."

"It's fine," said Nathan. He held up his left hand. "We're brothers. Not married."

"What?" asked Haley.

"We've lived together ever since Lucas became a single parent, years ago. Celia's mother died when she was born so I was raising her alone, but I wasn't doing so well. We figured we'd do better if we tackled it together. So far it's working out pretty good, except for now they're getting so smart they think they can pull stuff like this. Sorry for the confusion, Miss James," said Nathan. They met eyes.

"Call me Haley, please. They totally got me, I can't believe it. They don't cover stuff like this in teacher's college," she said. "So Celia is your daughter?"

Nathan nodded. "And Cassie is Lucas'."

Haley nodded, digesting this. After a moment, she seemed to realize that she was being unprofessional.

"So let's um... Cassie's great with English, but her math skills are not so hot..." began Haley uncertainly. Both men relaxed and listened as the meeting progressed.

* * *

Having had to park a distance away from the school, Lucas determined that he would go get it and call Nathan when he was ready for him to come out. Haley began to pack her bag, apparently having finished her meetings for the day. Nathan watched her appraisingly.

Her hands found the pins that held her hair in place and she pulled them out, letting her hair fall down past her shoulders. He watched as suddenly she became less professional looking, became even more breathtaking. He wondered vaguely what his daughter would think of him developing a crush on their teacher.

"I have to say, I think it's amazing what a good job you've done with the girls. It sounds like they've been through a lot, but they're extremely well adjusted."

"Thanks. It was hard for a while. Lucas was clueless as well as being heartbroken. I was just clueless. We got into a pretty good rhythm a while back. We swap days making lunches, dropping them off, carpooling with the Jagielskis. I'm not surprised you thought we were married, we practically are," he joked. She laughed appreciatively and perched on the end of her desk, swinging her legs and now bare feet. He moved to stand closer to her.

"I have to say, Celia and you don't look much alike," commented Haley.

"Yeah. Celia's beautiful, like her mother," he said. The moment he said it he regretted it, though there was nothing essentially untrue about his statement – Celia did look her mother, and her mother had been beautiful. He felt guilty, thinking about his wife while he flirted with another woman. Daytona had been beautiful, and his true love for a time, but he knew she would have wanted him to move on.

"She seems pretty happy with what you've got going," said Haley.

"We all are."

Nathan cursed inwardly as his phone rang. He wished he'd thought to put it on vibrate so that he could let it ring and continue to talk to her. He knew Lucas would understand. She stuck out her hand to shake, and he did so.

"It was nice to meet you, Mr. Scott," she said formally. The schoolteacher once more. He studied her loose hair for a moment, her deep brown eyes.

"Nathan. Please. I'll be seeing you, Haley," he said. He casually winked to her as he exited, forced himself not to look back as he walked down the hall. He envisioned that he'd be making more visits to the school in future.


	3. Between Us

Chapter Three: Between Us

Celia Scott sighed inaudibly and moved closer to her father. Though the uproar following her and Cassie lying to their teacher had not completely died down, the errand they were about to perform was a necessary one.

Nathan looked down at his daughter in concern and wrapped an arm around her thin shoulders. He was always unsure, if this was too morbid for a young girl. He strongly felt, however, that it was important that she know what kind of person her mother had been.

The cemetery was within walking distance of their house, but they did not visit it beyond their annual tradition. Nathan heard his daughter sigh as they entered the gates – she had dressed up for the occasion, in a black shirt and blouse, her light blonde hair contrasting. He knew that he'd raised her properly.

They walked the familiar path toward one of the gravestones. One that was not particularly large, but was not merely one of the simple gray slabs. Nathan stepped back as his daughter approached the stone, dropped to her knees in front of it and wistfully began tracing her mother's name, written in fancy script: _Daytona Green – Scott. _Celia sighed again.

"Hey, mom," she murmured, half to herself. Nathan had never known what it was to miss someone he'd never met. Every year he wondered whether dredging this all up was really better for his daughter.

Watching his daughter stare at the marble headstone, he pictured how he'd imagined their lives would be: Celia, exactly as she was, between him and Daytona, all of them happy in the way families were. Not everyday, but full of love always.

He'd been angry at Daytona for dying, but he'd long since accepted it. He still missed her, he always was. He'd been his first love, she was going to be his only love. They'd been so happy at the birth of Celia. Cecilia had been her mother's name. She'd grown up without a mother, as well.

After a time Celia rose shakily. He walked toward her.

"Give me a sec?" he asked. She nodded. He always wanted time alone with her, she was used to it.

He fell to his knees as she had. Attempted a smile. He wondered, as he always did, what to talk to her about.

"Hey honey," he began. "I wasn't sure if I wanted to bring Celia today. It always brings her down, you know? And Cassie can't relate to her about this one. It's pretty much the only thing."

He chuckled to himself.

"You would know what to do, wouldn't you? You would have been a good mom. You would have loved it. She reminds me of you. But don't worry, I'll make sure she doesn't fall in love with a boy like me. She'll marry a good one, I promise."

Nathan frowned. What a ridiculous thing to promise – Celia was a force of nature and would marry whomever she pleased.

"But Lucas and I have got the act down. We're doing good," he promised. He paused, watching Celia play in one of the trees of the cemetery. "I promised I'd tell you everything, right? I met a woman. I couldn't tell Lucas, because I'm pretty sure he wouldn't approve. And I can't tell Celia until I'm really sure. It's her teacher. Haley."

He stared at her headstone, wishing he had the woman with him and not this figment of her.

"I don't know if I can break up what we have. I don't know if she'll even want me. I don't even know if it's what _I _want."

Realizing he was going to receive no answers, Nathan stood. Celia saw him and ran towards the headstone.

"Are we going now, Daddy?" she asked. He held out his hand for her to take and nodded. "Bye Mom."

They progressed back home. As they walked, Nathan noticed Celia become gradually more cheerful.

"Why don't Cassie and Lucas come here?" she asked abruptly. "Isn't Cassie's mom buried here too?"

Nathan stopped and squatted to make himself the same height as his daughter.

"You thought Cassie's mom was dead?" he asked in surprise. Celia shrugged.

"Well she's not around, and you never talk about her..."

Nathan sighed.

"I know. I get that that's confusing. She's not around because she's dead sweetie, she's around because she and Lucas aren't married anymore, so she left."

"Why?" asked Celia.

"Why did she leave? I guess because her family was falling apart, and she was scared."

"And she never came back?" asked Celia curiously.

"I think she wanted to, but I don't think Lucas let her. Look Celia, don't talk about this to Lucas or Cassie, okay? It might upset them."

Celia nodded in confusion. He knew that keeping secrets from her cousin was difficult for her. They lived together, went to school together.

Celia stopped him one more time, just before they arrived back at the house.

"You miss Mommy a lot, don't you?" she asked. Nathan nodded. "Did you ever think about marrying again, so that you wouldn't be so lonely and I'd have a new mom? I mean you and Uncle Luke are great, but..."

Celia trailed off and ran into the house, not waiting for him to answer. He watched her wistfully. He'd never seriously considered the option, but had always been vaguely aware that sooner or later she would ask. He just had hoped to have more time before the day she did.

Nathan trudged up the front steps of his house and toward the den, where Lucas was watching ESPN. He dropped onto the sofa beside him, still in his slacks and sports coat.

"Bad day?" asked his brother sympathetically.

"About the same as usual. But then we came back home and Celia told me she wanted a new mom," said Nathan. Lucas let out a noise of surprise.

"She specify who? Maybe she'd go for that teacher of theirs," said Lucas suggestively. Ever since their meeting, he'd been accusing his younger brother of flirting with her.

"I haven't seriously dated anyone for all of Celia's childhood. I can't exactly start now. I'm not exactly a catch, either. What would you do, if you were a woman and met a guy who lived with his brother, his daughter, and his niece in harmonious co – habitation? If I brought in a woman it would be like the freaking Brady Bunch."

Lucas laughed appreciatively. They had never discussed the possible ramifications of their marrying. It had never been an issue.

* * *

Upstairs, at the same time, two girls were having a remarkably similar conversation.

Cassie looked up cautiously when Celia walked into her bedroom without knocking. The lack of knocking didn't phase her, they more or less treated their rooms as shared territory. Her outing, however, was far out of Cassie's territory. She crossed her legs and sat up on her bed.

"How was it today?" she asked. Celia shrugged and joined her on the bed.

"Fine. I never know what to say, but it was fine."

She fell onto her back and stared at the glow – in – the – dark stars that Cassie had stuck to the ceiling, barely visible in the daylight.

"I asked him if he was ever going to get married again."

This sparked Cassie's interest. Both were aware that if either of their fathers were to remarry, their situations would improve.

"Did he say anything?"

"No," said Celia. "Maybe he thinks we'd be mad?"

"But you wouldn't be mad. Of course you wouldn't be mad. Didn't you explain that to him?" asked Casssie.

"I tried."

"I think if we want him to get married we're going to have to help him out," continued Cassie, with certainty in her voice. Intrigued, Celia craned her neck to look at her cousin.

"Seriously? But he doesn't even have a girlfriend," she said. "And even if he does get a girlfriend, he might choose the wrong one."

Cassie shook her head.

"We'll make sure he doesn't."

"How? Do you having someone in mind?" asked Celia. Cassie smirked.

"I have the perfect person all lined up. We just need to get them to know each other a little better."


	4. Adjusted Relationships

Chapter Four: Adjusted Relationships

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Author's note: Sorry about the gaps between posting. I liked writing this chapter, but it took a while.

* * *

"Miss James?"

Haley James looked up in surprise when two voices spoke to her in perfect synchronization. She could understand why she'd believed so readily their story about being twins. Though they looked almost nothing alike, their mannerisms were uncanny.

"Cassie, Celia? You guys don't want to go to recess?" asked their teacher, looking concerned. She put down her pen and turned her full attention on them when she saw the regret clearly in their eyes. "What's up, girls?"

"We just wanted to say that we're sorry," said Celia, speaking ahead of Cassie. "About lying to you about our... familial situation."

Haley hid a smile.

"And to promise we wouldn't eve do it again," said Cassie.

"Thank you. Did your dad tell you to say that, Celia? With the "familial situation"? I won't be mad, I promise," she assured her.

"Yeah," admitted Celia reluctantly. "But we were going to say we were sorry, anyway."

"I know, it's okay. I know you're sorry, I'm not mad," said Haley.

"We just did it because sometimes we wish we had more of a normal family," said Cassie, speaking quickly. Celia elbowed her. She was sounding too rehearsed.

"Oh?" prompted Haley, still looking amused.

"Yeah. All our teachers before thought it was really weird, that our dads decided to live together without moms around. We just didn't want you to think it was weird, too," explained Celia.

"I liked meeting your dads. You two have nothing to be ashamed of," said Haley earnestly.

"Are you going to the Burning Boat tonight?" asked Cassie eagerly. Haley nodded in surprise.

"Of course. I've gone since I was younger than you."

Celia and Cassie departed soon after, running out onto the playground to join their friends. They smiled discreetly at each other, pleased by how well their first mission had turned out.

* * *

"But I thought you said last year that you were getting to old to be going to the Burning Boat with your parents?" asked Nathan in surprise, after his daughter charged into his room, indignant over the fact that he hadn't gotten ready yet.

"We were kidding! You have to take us, everyone goes. It'll be fun," said Celia entreatingly. She opened her eyes wide, knowing that he had a hard time resisting her when she really wanted something.

"You want all of us to go? Uncle Lucas, Cassie?" he asked. In truth, neither he nor Lucas were looking forward to the time when Cassie and Celia would be less enthusiastic for family time.

"Yes, all of us! Or you know, I could go with Matt Lawson. He asked me to meet up with him," said Celia contemplatively, crossing her fingers behind her back.

"You know the house rule, Celia," he said sternly.

"I know, no dating till we're thirty. So we're going?" she demanded.

Nathan laughed, realizing that his eleven year old daughter had just manipulated him.

"Yes, we're going. Go tell your cousin and your uncle, we're going to have to leave in an hour if we want to get home in time for bed," said Nathan.

"Who says we want that?" asked Celia.

* * *

The four Scotts all enjoyed the festival in their own ways. Celia and Cassie loved the family time, loved seeing their friends, loved the cotton candy and the burning boat itself, loved seeing all their friends and not being remotely jealous of their more "normal" families.

Lucas and Nathan loved remembering. Remembering when they'd gone not with their daughters but with the women they'd loved. Lucas with Peyton Sawyer, before she'd been Peyton Scott. The most beautiful girl in the senior class, beautiful as well as tortured. Nathan with Daytona Green, a girl he'd known through his uncle since childhood. A girl whose beauty he'd only become aware of years later, almost too late. Nathan looked down at his daughter and sighed. He decided that all in all he was glad that Celia looked so much her mother, albeit lighter haired. He squeezed her hand and smiled down at her as she squeezed back. He liked that all of his friends attended the festival, friends he'd known since high school. As well as new friends. He strode off toward Haley James as Celia released his hand and ran off toward Jenny Jagielski.

Haley spun around to face him when he placed a hand on her shoulder. She smiled in instant recognition at him, and he found himself smiling back.

"Hey Mr. Scott," she said in greeting.

"Nathan," he reminded her. "Hey Haley."

They stared out onto the water for a few moments as Nathan floundered for something to say. He never remembered having this much trouble talking to girls, before.

"Cassie and Celia came to talk to me today," said Haley abruptly.

"Yeah?"

"They wanted to apologize for they prank they pulled. It was sweet," said Haley.

"They're attached to you. Celia especially. She never had a mother," explained Nathan. "She tries to form attachments when she can."

Haley was silent. Nathan looked sideways at her, admiring the lines of her profile in the darkness.

"Never? From what you said on Parent Teacher night it sounded like you were still in love with her mother. I assumed you were divorced," said Haley. She laughed derisively. "I guess I should stop assuming things about you guys."

Nathan smirked.

"Celia's mother died when she was a baby. She doesn't remember her. She was my first love. It took me a long time to get over it," he said. Inwardly, he chastised himself for being so uncool. He could not quit believe he was attempting to flirt with one woman while lamenting about another.

"That sounds so hard. I grew up with both my parents and five elder siblings. I can't imagine what it would be like to never know my mom. And for you guys. You raised them so well."

"Raising, not raised. We're still working on it. Together. We found that it worked better like this," said Nathan. Haley smiled.

"They seem to love it. I wouldn't have believed that they were sisters for much longer, just because they don't fight nearly enough. Me and my sister Taylor would fight like crazy. They're great kids," she said fondly.

"Yeah, they are. But what about you, Haley James? What could you possibly have that you need to burn?" asked Nathan teasingly.

"Please, all kinds. This," she said, unfolding a piece of paper, "Is the indignant letter of a parent who came in for Parent Teacher night and managed to criticize my teaching style, dressing style, and age within the first ten minutes. None of them think anyone younger than them could possible teach their children."

"How young are you, anyway?" he asked curiously.

"I went to Tree Hill High after you, but only just. I remember hearing about you, and your scoring record. And how you gave up a brilliant career to get married to your childhood sweetheart and have a baby. Weird that that baby became Celia," said Haley.

"You're telling me."

"What about Lucas? Is he a widower, too?" asked Haley. She was aware that she was losing some of her teaching professionalism within this conversation, but was finding she didn't care. Tree Hill was lonely, now that none of her old friends and family were still around. She could do with some new friends.

"No. Lucas married Peyton Sawyer pretty soon after I married Daytona, but they had a hard time at first with having a kid. The had one, but it seemed to tear them apart somehow. She left him when Cassie was six," said Nathan shortly. Thinking of Peyton still made him angry, despite the years that had passed.

Haley looked so sad after he said this that he knew she wouldn't be able to change the topic herself. He continued on smoothly.

"But Cassie dealt with it pretty well, considering. We moved in together the next year, and for them it seems like how their lives have been pretty much always. Sometimes I think that raising two boys would have been easier on us, but we love our girls."

"I can tell. I haven't even met most of the Dads in my class."

Nathan frowned to himself, reflecting that this was one of the least sexy conversations he'd ever had with a girl, but that it was almost impossible to go in any other direction with his daughter's teacher. He was not even sure if he wanted it to. He was confused by these emotions, which had not stirred in him in years.

Lucas watched his brother attempt to use moves he hadn't had to use in years before turning back to his daughter.

Cassie was staring moodily into the flames, which had only just begun to burn. He held back a sigh. Though both girls for the most part were still children, Cassie in particular had begun to branch out into more teenage fits of temper.

"What's up?" he asked nervously, nervous that she would tell him and nervous that she would not.

"You used to come here with Mom, didn't you? I've seen pictures."

Lucas sighed and fought the urge to shut her down entirely, evade her question. He knew that it was unreasonable of him. Of course she had questions.

"Yeah. We were going out for almost all of senior year, and most of junior year. And we were friends before that. We used to come all the time," revealed Lucas. Something in his tone warned Cassie that she was treading on ice, but this did not deter her.

"I read your yearbooks. Everyone thought you were the perfect couple," said Cassie. Lucas winced. He wished he could scold her for going through his things, but he and Nathan were generally of the mind that anything in the house was fair game.

"We were, for a while. It's complicated, Cass."

"If you were for a while, why did she leave us?" asked Cassie angrily, pushing forward despite her father's protests. "Was it because she's not really my mother?"

Lucas breathed a sigh of relief when Celia came back toward them. Never had he been so happy to see his niece.

He smiled at her. Celia was the opposite of Cassie – light haired while Cassie was dark, bubbly while Cassie was mellow.

"How are Jenny and Jake?" he asked.

"Good. Jake says hey."

Celia moved over to the other side of Cassie and sat down on the bleachers.

"Daddy's talking to Miss James over there, and we didn't even have to set it up! Did you do something?" asked Celia excitedly. Cassie held back a sigh. She was not any older than her cousin, but sometimes felt as though she were.

"They're probably just talking about us," said Cassie sullenly. Celia looked toward them and considered this. It was a start, at least.


	5. Above and Beyond

Chapter Five: Above and Beyond

* * *

Author's note: Once again I am sorry for the space between updates. I just graduated from high school, and I've been extremely busy doing that and doing stuff with my friends in honour of graduating, and preparing for next year. So sorry! They should be more regular from now on.

* * *

Lucas went to bed as soon as the four of them arrived home, knowing he could not handle any more deep conversation with his daughter. He knew that she would calm down by the following morning, be able to discuss whatever it was she'd been wanting to discuss in a calm and reasonable matter. She was generally an extremely reasonable person.

He folded his hands under his head and stared at the ceiling. He really had no intention of sleeping.

Cassie was not Peyton's daughter, biologically, and had always known it. He and Peyton had attempted to conceive for several years before going to a Doctor, discovering she was infertile and almost giving up in despair. Eventually they'd decided to use a surrogate. It had seemed the perfect solution, to him. She had needed convincing. He'd thought she had gotten over her initial hesitation, until six years after the birth of Cassie, when she'd abandoned them both.

* * *

Elsewhere in the same house, Nathan Scott was full of thought. Not of the past, but of the future.

Not far into the future. It was not as it was with Daytona, whom he'd always known he was destined to be with. Haley was different, Haley was new. He could not think beyond beyond dating her, getting to know her better. He did not want to think of how the girls would receive her, how much Haley James could potentially change everything.

He shrugged away these thoughts. None of this mattered, anyway. Haley James had yet to show any attraction to him whatsoever, and he could hardly blame her. He was widowed father who lived with his brother. Hardly the catch he'd been, when he'd been the star of his basketball team and all around stud.

He felt lame thinking this much about a girl who he'd barely spoken with, but it was impossible not to. He couldn't just move forward without thinking of the side effects. He had to think first of Celia, and then of Lucas and Cassie, and only then of himself.

Annoyed with himself, Nathan wandered around the house until he found Lucas. He'd presumed his brother to be in bed, but apparently he'd risen. Lucas was sitting at the kitchen table, picking at the wood fibers which had gradually become frayed over time. He recognized the obvious signs of his brother brooding.

"What's up?" he asked cautiously.

Nathan joined his brother at the table while he waited for Lucas to answer.

"Nothing. Cassie was angry tonight, about Peyton. And me. I just don't know how to deal with it. I'm angry, too," he said.

"What, at the burning boat?" asked Nathan. Lucas nodded. "Sorry I ditched you guys."

"That's okay. You were busy hitting on Miss James," said Lucas jokingly. Nathan smiled.

"Didn't really get that far. This is a bad idea, isn't it?" he asked.

"Not if it makes you happy."

This was a simple, very Lucas like solution to his problem. Lucas shrugged.

"You can't tell yourself for much longer that Celia is keeping you from having a real relationship. She's growing up, Nate. You can have a life now, if you want one," said Lucas.

"So can you. Did you at least tell Cassie about Brooke?"

For a moment, two faces floated through Lucas' mind. Two beautiful women, one with dark hair and one with light, two women who had both affected him so profoundly. He forced away the painful image and looked back at his brother.

"I know. But yours is at hand. Mine is not. Talk to Celia," advised Lucas.

"I'll talk to her if something happens. I don't want to scare her."

Nathan stood hurriedly, knowing that this was the coward's solution but not wanting to be told so. He comfortingly placed his hand on his brother's shoulder before disappearing upstairs.

* * *

After an uncomfortable morning at the Scott household, Cassie and Celia were both eager to leave the house. They ran out to the car as soon as Jake Jagielski nodded, glad that today was a carpool day and that they were not to be driven by either Lucas or Nathan.

Cassie was annoyed at her father for evading her questions, Celia was feeling sick. She'd been heaving stomach aches quite painfully since the night before but had been to anxious about the tension in the house to ask her father for help.

They were downcast all the way to school. Jenny Jagielski more than made up for it by talking animatedly the entire way, apparently not noticing their melancholy. Jake noticed but said nothing.

The three girls ran into the school just as the bell was ringing. As they sat down at their pair of desks Celia considered asking Cassie what was making her so downcast, but she was too preoccupied with her own problems to bother.

Cassie watched resentfully as her cousin finished her long division questions with ease. Cassie hated long division – there were too many steps. She was relieved when Celia excused herself to go to the bathroom, and resolved to catch up by the time her cousin returned.

This turned out to be far too easy of a challenge. Celia had not returned by the time Miss James released them to go for recess. Only slightly agitated, Cassie ran out to join the boys in a game of soccer, deciding that her cousin was only trying to get out of spending time outside.

Haley James looked up in slight alarm when Celia entered the classroom once more, shamefaced and seemingly surprised to see the empty classroom. Though Celia Scott had proved to be a troublemaker, she was generally fairly obedient. Haley was surprised that she hadn't gone out.

"Are you okay, Celia?" asked Haley nervously. So far her job hadn't gone out of its description – she hadn't had to comfort a child or learn about any of her student's life issues. Celia nodded hurriedly.

"I'm fine. I just don't really... know what to do," she admitted. Haley raised her eyebrows.

"How to do what, sweetie?" she asked. She couldn't help it. Celia, though strong, was somehow incredibly childlike and lovable, and all but called out for mothering.

"I mean Daddy and Uncle Luke tried to explain a few years ago, but I kind of forgot about it. I mean I figured it wasn't going to matter until we were older. And to be honest I think they were hoping that if they told us the basics we'd figure out the rest ourselves. And I get most of it. I think. I mean, the basic idea," explained Celia. Haley stared at her in confusion before recognition set in.

"Oh. You started your period," she said, matter – of – factly. She rose slowly from her desk. This was far out of her job description, and if she knew that Celia had a mother to go home to she would not even help her. But Celia did not. She went to sit in one of the smaller desks, for her students, across from where Celia had sat. "Do you need me to explain what's going on?"

Celia shook her head vigorously and Haley noted that she looked close to tears.

"So you just need supplies," Haley concluded. Celia nodded, her cheeks bright red. "You don't have to be embarrassed. I'm glad you came to talk to me."

Haley walked back toward her desk and when she returned had a small package in one hand. She handed it to Celia, who turned it around in her own hands.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"Do you want me to call your dad, have him pick you up early?" asked Haley gently. Celia shook her head vehemently.

"No, it would just freak him out. But maybe you could call him and tell him that I want him to pick us up today, instead of Lucas? So we can stop at the drug store?" asked Celia. Haley nodded.

"Yeah, I will. Do you um, know how to use that?" asked Haley, indicating the package in Celia's hands. Celia nodded and blushed again. As Celia rose and turned to go, Haley stopped her. Stepping toward her, she wrapped her arms around the young girl.

After a moment, Celia relaxed and let her body be comforted in the arms of her teacher. Haley reflected that this was perhaps inappropriate, but that Celia definitely needed it. Celia left quickly and Haley did not see her again until she returned after recess with Cassie and Jenny, all things apparently harmonious once more.

* * *

Nathan jogged up to Haley when he spotted her on the playground, a playful smile on his face. Haley watched him run gracefully, clearly an athlete. She gave him an apprehensive smile when he reached her.

"What's up?" he asked. "Is Celia okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine. She just wanted me to talk to you."

"About what?" asked Nathan.

"She started her period today. I don't think she was expecting it."

Nathan paled, in embarrassment and surprise. Evidently he had not been expecting it either.

"We told them about that," he said awkwardly.

"I know, she told me. I was impressed. I took care of it, but you're going to want to take her to the drug store after school. Maybe without Cassie? That would probably make her feel even more embarrassed. Or maybe do you have a sister, or a close female friend that could help her out? Do you have a girlfriend?" asked Haley, finding in surprise that she cared for more than one reason.

"No. Lucas is my only sibling. My mom isn't around. And I'm not dating anyone. I'll handle it," he said.

"Okay. Sorry, I know this is weird. But I'm glad you're here, I wanted to talk to you," said Haley.

"Yeah?"

Nathan was smiling again.

"About the class trip. To Raleigh," began Haley. Nathan and Lucas had had several in depth conversations about this trip to Raleigh before deciding that they could safely let both girls out of their sight for a week. "Nate Smith's mom dropped out of the trip, she can't chaperon anymore. And to be honest, I don't mind. I'd rather bring a dad along. Can you come?"

Nathan wondered briefly if she preferred the thought of him being around to thoughts of Lucas, or Jake, or any of the other dads. He decided he didn't care.

"Yeah. Sure. I mean Celia will kill me, but... Sounds fun."

Haley smirked.

"I kind of doubt it. I mean, I'm sure it'll be fun for the kids," she said in clarification.

"I'm sure we can find a way to make it fun for us, too," said Nathan, staring directly into her eyes. She blushed but did not drop his gaze. He found himself enjoying the way she was looking at him, looking at him like a man and not just as a father, as a brother. With none of the other labels he'd accumulated over the years.

Cassie run in to them, long hair in a ponytail, happier than she'd been that morning. Celia followed slowly, met her father's eyes reluctantly. He hugged her tightly to him, guilty once more that he was at times so unequipped for his role.

He wrapped arms around both of their shoulders, listened as Cassie began to tell him in great detail about the soccer game she'd won for her team over the lunch hour. He knew, had known for a long time, that they were growing up. But he'd never been presented with such solid proof. She gave his daughter's shoulders a reassuring squeeze and resolved to prepare himself and them for whatever was to come.


	6. Strangers in the Night

Chapter Six: Strangers in the Night

* * *

Author's note: I know that I said this last time, so I would understand if you were skeptical, but my updating will stop being so sporadic now. Actually. I graduated and then had to go away for a week, but now I'm back and will be for all of July. And um, the other pairing in this story (besides the obvious naley) will become clear within the next few chapters.

* * *

"So just like that, you're going to Raleigh?"

Nathan shrugged and resumed folding shirts into his suitcase.

"Hey, she asked. I thought it would be nice to do something nice for the kids," he said innocently. Lucas scoffed.

"You just want to make time with Miss James."

"She said I could call her Haley."

Lucas scoffed again.

"Just be careful, little brother."

Nathan zipped close his suitcase and lifted it into his hands.

"Aren't I always? Come say goodbye," he invited. Lucas followed his younger brother, a sigh etched into his brow.

* * *

Cassie and Celia ran right onto the bus before dropping off their bags, but Nathan followed more sedately. He approached Haley, who smiled at him and checked something off on a list. He took advantage of her distraction to check her out – she was wearing jeans, a simple t – shirt, her hair down. He'd never seen her dressed so casually. She looked much less like a schoolteacher and more like just any woman their age, one he could date with slightly fewer string attached.

Haley looked back up at him. Most of the other parents, around them in a small group, were considerably older than they were.

After several more students arrived, Haley looked up from her clipboard once more.

"So we're all ready to go. The kids are all probably sitting in the back, we just need to make sure they stay sitting down and fairly quiet."

Haley and Nathan walked onto the bus at the trailing end of the other parents. He smiled when she sat down next to him, as if there was no question about it. She impatiently tapped her shoes against the bus floor. She looked at him abruptly.

"I feel like such a grownup, you know? I mean I remember being a kid and going on these trips and.." she blushed. "I guess this doesn't exactly give me an air of professionalism..."

"No, it's cool. We're friends, right?" he asked. She nodded.

"Right. I'm excited. I just wish some of the moms were like, more my age and disapproved of me less obviously. Then it would be perfect," she said with conviction.

"Hey, I don't disapprove of you at all."

"Good. I used to take road trips with my parents and my brothers and sisters all the time. Do you guys take road trips?" she asked.

"Sometimes. My mom lives in Charlotte and Lucas' mom lives in Charleston, so we go there. Lucas and me, we like driving, but the girls tend to get impatient," he explained. Haley smiled.

"I love driving. I always have. Taylor and I always used to play hangman in the backseat... Taylor is my sister. Do you want to play?" suggested Haley. Nathan dug in his backpack for a pad of paper.

"Sure," he replied, moving closer to her.

Haley looked up and seemed surprised to see him only inches away from her. It was the first time he'd felt like a man to her, and not the father of one of her students. Suddenly nothing was between them. She smiled hesitantly.

"You have like, the bluest eyes I've ever seen," she said softly.

He smiled at her and moved closer.

"Celia has them too."

Her next words snapped them both out of the reverie they had been sharing. He sprung guiltily back and she stared down at the notebook in her hands.

He studied the side of her face he could see: her warm brown eyes, hair tucked neatly behind one ear. He wondered if she'd brought up Celia intentionally to kill the moment.

"What are those?" asked Nathan, breaking the silence as he watched Haley flip through the notebook. Taking up several pages were what looked like long poems.

"Oh, song lyrics. I'm a musician," she explained.

"I thought you were a teacher?"

"I'm all sorts of things," said Haley, meeting his blue eyed gaze once more.

She let her hair fall over her face, hiding whatever expression had been in her eyes only moments before. When she looked up again they were friendly but blank.

"So. Hangman?" she asked, flipping to a blank page in her notebook.

* * *

Nathan watched fondly as Cassidy and Celia joined the group of excited sixth graders running through the halls of the hotel, twenty – five twelve year olds flinging open doors and shrieking in excitement. He chuckled as he spotted Haley, running around and attempting to calm them down, encouraging them to close their doors, stay with their roommates and unpack. He looked behind him to exchange mirthful glances with the two other parent volunteers, but neither were looking at him. Both were mothers, both more than ten years older than he, and both looked skeptical at Haley's attempts to contain her class. Nathan walked forward to help her and managed to calm down several small boys while she handled the more shrieking, excitable girls. She shot him a grateful look.

Nathan tried not to comment when she followed him into his room. He hoped that it did not signify that they had officially moved in to "friends" territory. She collapsed backward onto his bed, sending her blonde hair flying. He watched in interest as her shirt rose up several inches, revealing her toned stomach. He was enjoying her more relaxed attitude, at strict odds with the professionalism she attempted to maintain while in Tree Hill.

"We should have half an hour of down time. Mrs. Jenkins and Mrs. Wright won't expect us to hang out with them, will they?" she wondered aloud, referring to the other two parent volunteers. "God, I hope not. I'm so glad you're here."

Nathan sat carefully on the bed beside her.

"You don't have many friends, do you?" he asked teasingly.

"Shut up, I just moved here. You've lived here all your life and you have like, one friend," she shot back.

"Hey, I have two friends," he said defensively.

"Lucas doesn't count, he's your brother."

Haley's voice was matter – of – fact, but her eyes were teasing.

"Anyway, aren't you my friend?" he asked, now more serious. She rose and looked at him.

"I didn't think you wanted me to be your friend, Nathan," she said. He stared at her as the meaning of her words hit him, as he realized fully for the first time that everything that he had been feeling she had felt, too. Too avoid the intense gaze he was now giving her she rose. He reached out to touch her hand, to turn her around to him.

In a mixture of accident and good fortune, she stumbled in surprise and began to fall. Instinctively he pulled her toward him to break her fall and she landed squarely on his lap. He smiled.

"You're a klutz," he said in surprise.

"There's a reason I try to be sitting whenever we talk," she said.

"I don't mind, so long as you're sitting here," he said. They were close, closer than they'd been on the bus or ever. It had been so, so long since he'd been this close to a woman, since he'd wanted to be closer in so many ways. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I don't want to be friends with you."

She seemed to pull away for a second, but stopped. Almost questioningly she leaned in to kiss him.

He responded instantly. His hands, which had been carefully avoiding touching her body were suddenly on her thighs, moving upward, feeling the curve of her waist through the thin material of her shirt. They moved closer together in one moment, her allowing her arms to wrap around her neck as one of his curved around her neck, drawing her in. The sensation of kissing her slowly took him over and he remembered how much he had missed being close to someone. It was as if his life had been in black and white, beautiful in its own way but somewhat lacking, and was now in full colour.

As a knock sounded on the door, she leaped off his lap and ran to answer it. He felt the loss of her body next to his instantly, painfully. She spoke briefly to the student who'd been knocking, and returned. Her demeanor changed instantly as she drew closer to him. She crossed her arms protectively around herself and met his eyes with some difficulty.

"So this isn't considered the best possible time to do this, probably, but we can't really afford to be coy. I'm your daughter's teacher. What was that?" she demanded. Nathan stood and gently placed one hand on each of her upper arms.

"We've both been thinking about it. You can't deny it, Haley. You asked me here, didn't you? You could have asked Lucas or Jake or any one of the other dads, but you asked _me._ You wanted me here, so don't start pretending like you didn't."

"I'm not pretending anything. It's just... complicated."

"Isn't it always?"

Haley smiled and leaned up to brush a brief kiss on his lips. He released her as she tugged her body away, leading him toward the door.

"We have to go, we have an itinerary to follow. We'll talk. I promise," she said emphatically. He nodded and followed her out, a smile on his lips once more.


	7. Cold and Broken

Chapter Seven: Cold and Broken

* * *

Author's note: This chapter should make make the pairings of this story obvious. If they weren't already obvious, from the story summary. Also alerts were down for a while, you might want to check and make sure you've read the last chapter?

* * *

Several days later, Nathan Scott watched in admiration while Haley dove into the hotel pool, her body more graceful in water than it was on land. He watched as she resurfaced. She was wearing a fairly modest one piece, ever the professional, but still her curves were more evident than they ever had been. He turned awkwardly away from a young hotel patron whose eyes skated appreciatively over his chest muscles before giving him a seductive smile.

He looked toward Haley again as a hotel employer called her name, looking awkward on the clammy pool deck. The climbed out, wrapped her body in a towel and walked toward him. Their conversation seemed to distress her. Once they'd parted ways, Haley hurried toward him.

"What was that?" he asked.

"The IMAX theatre called here. We were going to see a film about sharks, but they canceled because of fire or flooding or something. So we have to come up with something else to do with them," she said, clearly agitated. He looked at the class of twelve year olds happily splashing each other, their yells echoing around the room. At his own daughters, playing a rousing game what looked to be water tag with very few rules.

"They're having a great time. They came here to have fun, they don't have to learn new things all the time. It's the last time, why don't we all just hang out? We could go get supplies. It might be fun," he said, sneaking a "we" into his penultimate sentence and hoping she knew he was referring to the two of them, specifically.

"Maybe we should. They could use a break. I don't know when I've gone to so many museums within a week," she said. He smiled and found his eyes slipped down involuntarily. They both suddenly became aware that they were both dripping with water and barely dressed. She blushed and retreated.

"I'll let the moms know we're going to pick up some stuff. We'll meet in the lobby in a half hour?" she suggested. Nathan nodded slowly. As she was about to depart, Celia ran up.

"What were you talking about, Daddy?" she asked in interest.

"Miss James and I just decided it would be fun to have a party in one of the rooms, and we're going to go get some supplies at the store," he explained to his daughter. Her eyes lit up.

"Can Cassie and I come?" she asked excitedly. Nathan looked at Haley, pained. There was no way to explain the real reason he wanted to be alone with her, and he didn't want to hurt her feelings with a false one.

"Sure. Go get changed, we're meeting in the lobby," he said. He and Haley exchanged one more awkward glance before they parted ways.

* * *

Celia and Cassie ran ahead into the grocery store, quickly disappearing down an aisle in a flurry of giggles. Nathan vainly attempted to call after them but gave up when they did not return. He turned to Haley and shrugged helplessly.

"They've been cooped up for days, what can you do?" he asked, grabbing a shopping cart from the rows lined up by the door and expertly steered it toward one of the aisles. She followed, impressed. He was more capable at this thing than the would generally expect of a young man. Absently, she thought that he would be a very easy man to live with.

He grabbed a bag of Cheesies off the shelf and dropped them in to the cart. She followed suit with a box of Oreos.

"Looking forward to going home?"he asked. He wondered whether they really would talk before they left, as she had promised they would. He was beginning to doubt it.

"Yeah. I like to have a space to call my own," she admitted.

"You live alone?" he asked cautiously. She nodded. Nathan frowned slightly to himself – he had never lived alone.

"Yeah. But sometimes I get lonely."

She looked up and met his eyes for what felt like a long, long time. Slowly he smiled to himself. Every time he gave up hope, she found a way to give him more.

He looked away first.

"Where did they get to?" He raised his voice to a yell. "**Cassie? Celia?**"

* * *

Cassie glanced sideways at Celia and giggled as Nathan's voice called out to them once again. She snatched her hand and pulled her further down the aisle.

"Daddy's never going to take us out of Tree Hill again," joked Celia, peering around the corner.

"Guess not. Oh, sorry," she said, upon backing into someone's cart. She spun around to face the person, blushing wildly.

Celia jumped immediately as a can of coffee hit the hard tiled floor and bounced several times before rolling to a stop. She glanced curiously at the woman, and ran through her memory to find a face that matched. There was none to be found. This was a stranger.

Her greenish eyes glanced between them in a panic, making a connection that neither understood. Celia looked at Cassie, who was looking at the woman in bemusement.

The coffee can had upset the balance of a stack of them, and almost immediately more begun to fall in a rainstorm of crashes. Cassie and Celia both jumped in surprise but the woman remained still, staring at them with the same expression on in her eyes.

* * *

Haley smiled as Nathan half heartedly called out for his daughter once more. She mused that for two people who were supposedly grownups they were having a surprising amount of difficulty having a grown – up conversation.

They wandered to the end of the aisle and looked around. When a crash sounded in a nearby aisle, Nathan looked toward it instantly in a paternal instinct. He grabbed her hand, again on instinct as opposed to tenderness. She realized slowly that they were not grownups. Nathan was a grown up, had lived through grief and deep, powerful love, had borne a child and learned so much that could never be taught. Nathan was a grown – up. In so many ways, she was not.

Pulling her by the hand, he ran to the aisle where he'd heard the crashing. He frowned when he saw the cannisters on the floor, strewn haphazardly, his daughter and niece standing guiltily amongst them.

"Remind me why I let you come?" he asked playfully. Celia blushed. He looked at Cassie, but saw that her eyes were not on him, but were straight ahead, in surprise. He followed her gaze and stepped back, toward Haley.

The woman had dark brown hair slightly past her shoulders, hazel eyes, was noticeably pretty and was now looking at Nathan as if she'd seen a ghost.

His eyes narrowed as if in contempt and he dropped Haley's hand before either of the girls could notice he had held it.

"Nathan?" she asked, her voice sounding unnaturally high to all of their ears. Nathan nodded, as if she had truly been asking a question.

"Brooke," he acknowledged. He reached down to take his daughter by one hand, his niece by the other.

"Daddy..." began Celia. He shook his head.

"Not now. We're leaving. Haley, finish the shopping?" he asked, pulling them both away. Cassie stared over her shoulder as they left, seemingly as struck by the impromptu meeting as Brooke herself had been.

* * *

Later in the evening, as the students celebrated their trip in one room with the supplies that Haley and Nathan had provided from their shopping trip, Haley found Nathan in his room.

She entered cautiously, as if she were not quite sure of what she wanted there. She stood awkwardly in front of his bed with her hands in her pockets and waited for him to speak.

"Hey Haley," he said. She suspected that his years of fatherhood kept him from snapping at people who wanted to be with him when he wanted to be alone.

"Hey. Do you want to... talk?" she asked cautiously. He met her eyes, annoyance flashing in his own.

"Now? You've been avoiding talking to me for days and _now_ you want to talk?" he demanded. She flushed and sat down on the bed, several feet away from him.

"I didn't mean that. We can talk about whatever."

Nathan looked at her. He slowly leaned toward her. Wrapping one hand around her neck, he drew her in to him and they kissed slowly. He inched towards her and lowered her onto the bed beneath him with practiced ease.

She let out a gasp of surprise when his hand found its way under her shirt and slowly moved upward, sending chills down her spine and increasing her need to be intimate with him.

His hand found the clasp of her bra and he worked at the clasp of it. He leaned away slightly as he did so, his lips leaving hers for the first time. Her eyes opened and she took in the expression on his face, one that was not of joy or even excitement. Reluctantly she pushed him off of her, readjusted her clothes and met his eyes pleadingly.

"There are some other steps I like to go through, first," she said by way of an explanation. "Steps that I was looking forward to going through with you. Talk to me, Nathan."

He sighed and began.

"That woman in there, in the store. Her name is Brooke Davis, and I haven't seen her in ten years. Didn't see her much then, either. She was pretty much a secret. Lucas' secret."

Haley nodded, her eyes warm and open to him.

"They had an affair while he was married to Peyton, while they were having a kid together. Brooke got pregnant, Peyton didn't. Lucas told Peyton, she pretended to forgive them. Brooke realized that Lucas was never going to leave Peyton to be with her. That he wasn't that type of guy. She also realized that she couldn't give the baby the life it deserved. I guess in some twisted way, she thought she was doing what was best for it. So she had the baby, signed the adoption papers and gave it to Lucas and Peyton to raise."

"Cassie?" asked Haley incredulously.

"Cassie. Peyton was fine with it, on the surface. She'd wanted a baby, but Cassie was never really hers. I think on some level Lucas didn't want her to be. He wanted something to remember Brooke by, and he couldn't run the risk of letting Peyton be her mother in any sense of the word. He really loved Brooke, and Peyton never forgot it. I guess I've gotten into the habit of blaming Peyton, for leaving so suddenly and making things so hard for Luke and Cassie, but really it's no more her fault than it is his."

Haley nodded and moved closer to him. He put his arm around her and drew her closer still.

"Thank you for telling me that. I kind of get the feeling you haven't talked about it for a while."

"Neither of us do. I guess we figure it makes it harder." Nathan sighed. "I'm thinking it's all about to get harder, anyway."

They sat in silence for a time, and Nathan felt less of a need to talk than he'd ever felt, and more comfortable than he'd felt almost in his entire life. He suspected that this was one of the "steps" she'd been referring to.

And when the night slowly dawned and they fell asleep sprawled on his bed, bodies still entangled, and woke up in the same positions, he thought he was maybe okay with going through all the steps, after all.


	8. We Begin

Chapter Eight: We Begin

Lucas Scott smiled as the bus pulled into the parking lot and children immediately began spilling out of it, running in various directions, shouts filling the air. Silence was now a strange sound to him. He was glad when Celia flew into his arms, followed in quick succession by Cassie.

Over their heads, amidst them competing to tell him about their trip, he met eyes with Nathan. Nathan followed at a more sedate pace, Haley at his side.

His brother was serious, drawn. He had none of the cheer of his daughter or his niece, and Lucas knew instantly that this was not due to a lack of sleep or a general irritation with being surrounded by so many preteens all day.

"We need to talk," said Nathan, in response to Lucas' silent question.

* * *

"_Jesus..."_

Nathan watched in mild alarm when his brother's head sank into his hands. They were in their kitchen, where so much of their lives seemed to take place.

"Do you think Cassie realized who she was?" asked Lucas, still not looking up at his brother.

"No. I think she has no idea."

Lucas nodded.

"Fucking hell. This couldn't have come at a worse time. Cassie's all curious about it right now anyway, and won't stop asking questions about Peyton, and now this? But Brooke backed out of her life, I can't just tell her about it now..."

Lucas finally looked up and asked the question Nathan knew she had been dying to ask:

"How did she look?"

Nathan frowned, and wished he could lie to his brother and get away with it.

"Like she always did, man. She's a good looking girl." He paused, and realized that this was not strictly true, either. "She looks sadder. Tired, maybe."

"It's been a while," conceded Lucas. Nathan looked at his brother and realized that he had grown older, too.

"Yeah."

* * *

Cassie and Celia peered down through the railings of the stairs into the kitchen, a position they had often assumed. Each knelt, Cassie on the higher step and Celia on the lower. They clutched hands. They were aware, somehow, that this was different.

Once they had gone, Celia and Cassie turned sideways to look at each other. Neither spoke, they were both only aware of the wheels turning in their heads.

"I don't understand," admitted Celia finally. She was aware that this did not concern her at all.

"That woman... Brooke... I think she used to date Daddy?" guessed Cassie.

"But didn't he say that your Mom was his first girlfriend?" asked Celia. Cassie shrugged. The idea that Peyton could be his first girlfriend but not his last was beyond her.

The two stared at each other as the sound of the two men's footsteps went down the front hall and outside, and distantly they heard the sound of a basketball on the pavement of the driveway outside.

"Daddy and Miss James spent a lot of time together in Raleigh," said Celia, awkwardly changing the subject towards one that affected her more directly. Cassie cracked a smile, one that seemed like her first of the day.

"I heard him call her Haley," said Cassie excitedly.

"Oh, that's her name?" replied Celia in surprise. They'd speculated on several occasions, only having seen her sign her name with her first initial. Cassie had guessed Hannah, Celia had guessed Hilary.

"I guess so. I wonder if he asked her out for a date?"

"Probably. I wonder when he's going to tell us about it?"

Cassie speculated, glad that they were finished talking with the heavy details of her life and could talk about the lighthearted drama in Celia's.

"Maybe he's going to be lame and try and keep it a secret," she suggested.

Celia frowned.

"Probably."

* * *

Lucas Scott stared at the portable phone in his hand for a long time before he dialed a number he'd long since memorized.

"Hello?" came the confused female voice from the other end. In the background, he imagined he could hear the ocean. He wondered where she was, what she did with her life.

"Hey."

He did not introduce himself, she did not either. They'd known each other for so long. And even if they'd existed only in each other's thoughts for years, they had never forgotten.

"I need to know what I can tell Cassie," said Lucas abruptly. He heard her sigh.

"Tell her whatever you want, Luke. She's your daughter."

"She's _our_ daughter."

The woman was silent. This was so true, and somehow so not.

"I'll think about it and call you back, okay?" she suggested. Lucas nodded reluctantly.

"Promise you won't bail on me again?" he asked, his heart hardening toward her. She hung up on him. He deserved it.

He lowered the phone and stared at it.

"_I miss you_," he said, completely to himself.

* * *

As Nathan Scott waited in front of a closed door, he realized his hands were sweating, and he was as nervous as an adolescent.

He wiped his hands on his jeans and rang the doorbell again, hoping that she was being intentionally late for effect and had not blown him off.

Haley appeared moments later. She was breathless, slightly flushed. Heartened, he realized she'd been late to answer the door out of actual necessity and not because she was being intentionally coy.

After he awkwardly wondered if he should kiss her, she moved forward and put her arms around his neck. In relief he wrapped his around her waist and stood still in her doorway. After a tense day at the Scott house, he was glad to be with her again.

"You fit nicely here," he commented. They remained motionless for several more moments before she moved out of his embrace.

"You, too."

He moved cautiously behind her into her apartment. He tried to remember what he'd done on dates with Daytona. Nathan frowned as he reluctantly remembered that their dates had mostly consisted of attending his basketball games and trying to find places to make out, and later to have sex in. He realized he'd never been in a real grown up relationship, even once she had become his wife.

"Nice place," he commented.

"It's small," she said self consciously.

"Yeah, but I like it. It's clean. There aren't any horse books on your couch, or pony tail holders on the floor. And I'd be willing to bet that there isn't a single juice box in your fridge," he said jokingly. She commented.

"I see your point," she conceded. He smiled at her, his charming jock smile. She blushed, and was suddenly aware that she was alone with a man she'd only recently begun to date, in her apartment. That her proximity to him reminded her painfully of the things they had begun to do in the hotel room in Raleigh. She cleared her throat loudly and turned away from him to face the refrigerator.

"Do you want a coke? Water? Anything besides a juice box?" she asked.

"Hey, I _like_ juice boxes," he clarified. She smiled and handed him a coke.

She lifted herself onto her kitchen counter and swung her legs back and forth. He stood up straighter and suddenly felt pressured to make conversation.

"I'm glad you called me. Being at home today was kind of intense," he admitted.

"Oh, you talked to Lucas?"

"Yeah. He was upset. Understandably. We have to figure out what to tell our girls," said Nathan. Haley nodded.

"Did you tell them about us?" she asked.

Nathan looked at her in surprise. He had thought they were in agreement on this subject.

"No. I thought you understood. I don't want them to get attached to the idea before we figure out where it's going," he explained. Haley looked down to hide her frown. Nathan waited uncomfortably for her to look back up at him. So _this_ was what a real, grown up relationship was like...

At long last, Haley looked up.

"They're playing some old movie at the theatre downtown. With like, really lame special effects and hopefully people dressed up in animal costumes. Want to go?" she suggested. He nodded eagerly.

"Hell yes."

His hand found hers as they walked out the door. At the back of his mind, it occurred to him that he hoped they would not run in to anyone they knew.

* * *

Lucas ran for the door. He'd been upstairs working in his study, and so off in his own world that he'd barely heard it ring. In annoyance he wondered where the girls were, what they were doing that was so intensive that they couldn't possibly make it to the door.

When he answered it, and the door swung open to reveal a face he knew well, a part of him wished he had not.

"Hey," he said slowly. She smiled awkwardly.

"Hey. Your seemed kind of anxious on the phone, so..." She shrugged. "I'm back."


	9. How I Know I'm Alive

Chapter Nine: How I Know I'm Alive

* * *

Author's note: So apparently I'm a terrible person who doesn't update like, ever. I'm SO sorry. I've been working at a summer camp, it totally took over my spare time, but now I'm home and will try to get back into the swing of things. Hope you enjoy this one!

* * *

Lucas stared in amazement at the woman standing in his doorway before standing aside, leaving the doorway clear for her to enter. She did so and looked up at him, her face appealing to make this less awkward somehow.

"Where's Nathan?" she asked. He smiled to herself. She never had been good with smalltalk.

"He's on a date." Lucas cringed to himself. "Don't tell the girls."

She smirked, and seemed to relax. She stepped forward to hug him and he found himself hugging back, smelling the smell of her blonde curls as he had done so often in his life.

"Thank you. I would understand if you made this more difficult," she said, stepping out of his arms. He smiled at her.

"We were married for ten years, Peyton. And what happened isn't exactly not your fault," he said.

"Not entirely," she agreed.

He looked hesitantly toward the stairs but bade her to follow him.

"Come on," he said.

She hung back for a moment as he moved to open the door of his daughter's bedroom. After leaving them years previously, she had only seen her a handful of times. Every time she had seen her grow closer toward her father, grow farther away from her.

He entered without knocking, Peyton trailing behind. Cassie was alone in her room, stretched out on her bed and reading a book. She looked apathetically at her father when he entered, but sat straight up when she saw her mother.

"Hey Cass," said Peyton, cautiously going to sit down on the bed. Cassie looked at her in frank astonishment, trying to remember when she had last seen her. If she had received a present, or even a card, on her last birthday.

"What are you doing here?"she asked bluntly. Behind her, Lucas hid a smile. Blood or not, Cassie was more like Peyton than she realized.

"Your Dad was telling me you've been asking a lot of questions lately," she explained. "We thought maybe you wanted to talk."

"Celia and I just didn't really understand. Brooke was an ex – girlfriend of Dad's?" she guessed. Lucas moved forward and spoke ahead of Peyton.

"Yeah."

"So how did she recognize me so quickly? Did she know me when I was a baby or something?"

Lucas and Peyton exchanged glances. Instantly, Peyton could see how bothered Lucas was by even these near lies to their daughter.

"Yeah, she did," said Lucas.

"Pretty well, I guess. I mean, she knew who I was and I don't even remember her. And I look pretty different than I did when I was a baby."

On this point Peyton had to agree. Not having seen the gradual growing of her daughter, she was amazed by who she now was. How she was now so clearly becoming a woman.

"I guess she saw Celia and put it together. I don't know, sweetie, I wasn't there," said Peyton helplessly. Cassie turned on her, eyes flashing.

"Don't call me that."

"Sorry," said Peyton instantly, flushing. She was surprised Cassie had even spoken to her, that they'd made it this far without strife.

"Can you two leave? I'd like to be alone for a while," she said clearly. Peyton nodded and got up from the bed, followed by Lucas. "Are you just going to leave again?"

Peyton paused at the question clearly intended for her. She met Lucas' eyes, but he offered no assistance.

"I'll stay as long as you want," she said cheerfully. Cassie rolled her eyes.

"Whatever."

* * *

Peyton leaned against the hallway wall for support outside of Cassie's now closed door.

"I'm sorry about that," said Lucas. She shrugged.

"I thought it would be worse. I don't think I've seen her in two years. I didn't deserve more than she gave me," said Peyton.

"Thank you for coming, anyway."

"Of course." She smiled at him, and for a moment Lucas remembered the teenage girl she'd been, the one he had loved so powerfully. He shook the image out of his head and was relieved when footsteps sounded on the stairs.

"Uncle Lucas! I..." Celia stopped short in the hallway and stared at her Aunt in amazement. "Hi."

"Hi Celia. You've grown up a lot," said Peyton.

"Hey Aunt Peyton," she said carefully. She looked curiously between Cassie's closed door and the two blondes standing outside of it. "Are you here because of what happened with that woman? Brooke?"

Peyton nodded hesitantly. They should have known that after eleven years their lies would catch up to them, eventually.

"Daddy's going to be mad when he finds out she's here," she said to Uncle Lucas.

"Your father would also be mad if he knew you were referring to someone as if she wasn't in the room," said Lucas sternly. She backed down slightly.

"Where is he?" she asked.

"Out with a friend."

Peyton hid a smile.

Celia retreated down the hall without another word.

"I gotta say, out of the two I thought she would be less hostile," said Peyton.

"Cassie goes through stages. Sometimes she's furious that you left, sometimes she just misses you. It's hard for her to be without her mother. It's hard for both of them."

Peyton looked down uncomfortably and wondered how to continue their conversation without arguing – about her leaving, about him straying. About things they'd argued so many times before.

"So did you get the new Modest Mouse?" she asked desperately. He smiled. She'd always been able to surprise him.

"Yeah. Of course. It's pretty good, but I always like..."

"_Good New For People Who Love Bad News. _And I say you're crazy. _Lonesome Crowded West_ is the best Modest Mouse album. Ever."

He laughed and leads her back downstairs, both nervous for Nathan coming home but neither putting words to their fears.

* * *

Hours later, Peyton sat outside and listened to the inevitable argument that Lucas and Nathan were participating in.

She found herself nodding along to their equally valid points. The found herself agreeing with Lucas when he said she had every right to be here, that she was Cassie's mother. And agreeing with Nathan when he said that no, actually she wasn't. And taking Lucas' side once again when Lucas told Nathan it wasn't Nathan's business, and that if Peyton wanted to be in Cassie's life Lucas was all for it.

Peyton hoped sincerely that her daughter wasn't eavesdropping as shamelessly as she was.

She got up from the porch swing she had been sitting on when a tall man walked up the walkway. He looked surprised to see her there, and completely oblivious as to who she was.

"Hey," he said, as he reached the porch. He remained on the top step, making them roughly the same height.

"Hey."

She was now able to see him more clearly in the dark. He had brown hair and brown eyes, a slightly scruffy appearance. He wore a bracelet around his wrist, clearly made by the hands of a child, but wore no ring. She smiled at him.

"So don't take this the wrong way, but who are you?" he asked.

"I used to live here. Who are _you_?" she asked in challenge. Comprehension dawned on him.

"Peyton Scott?" he guessed.

"Peyton Sawyer, these days. Are you a friend of Lucas'?" she asked.

"Both of them, actually. I'm Jake. Jake Jagielski," he said.

"How do you know them?" she asked.

"What are you, suspicious? We're all part of a single father's group."

"You have a kid?" she asked in interest.

"Uh, yeah. Jenny. She's in the same class as Cassie and Celia. Are you going to let me go in?" he asked, indicating the door behind her.

"Do whatever you want, but I think you might not want to go in there," she said. He took a step toward the door but stopped.

"Why is that? Do you want me to stay out here with you?" he asked in interest.

"Personally I don't care, but Nate and Luke are yelling. I wouldn't want to get in the middle of that," she explained.

"Seriously? At each other? Are you sure you don't just want company?" he asked teasingly.

"Are you sure you want to be caught flirting with your buddy's ex – wife?" she shot back. He smiled, mostly to himself.

"Were we flirting, Peyton Sawyer?" he asked. She shrugged.

"Do you want us to be flirting, Jake Jagielski?" she asked provocatively.

As if on cue Nathan opened the front door, apparently having heard their banter. For a second Peyton could have sworn he looked relieved. Relieved perhaps, by this definitive evidence that although Peyton had come back, she had absolutely no intention of winning back Lucas. Peyton found herself relieved, as well. She realized in full how little she wanted this, as well.

"I see you met Jake," said Nathan stiffly.

"Yeah, we were talking," said Jake, breaking awkwardly into the conversation.

"So I see. If you guys want to come back in, we're..." Nathan looked at Peyton. "Done."

Peyton walked last in to the house, behind a fuming Nathan and an uncomfortable Jake. She was not a girl who generally liked surprises, but so far nothing had turned out the way she had expected, and she was finding that she barely minded at all.


	10. Sharing Circle

Chapter Ten: Sharing Circle

While Jake walked quickly into the community centre, mindful of getting chairs together, Nathan and Lucas lagged behind.

They were headed toward another meeting of their Single Dad's group. Though in their earlier years they had gone together often, their visits had become less frequent of late. When they had first begun raising their daughters they had been desperate for any advice they could get, but later on found that the support of clueless fathers was something they no longer required. But this week they had mutually decided that it had been too long, and they could all do with some support for the recent trials in their lives.

They walked down to the basement of the community centre where their was a circle of chairs and a table with coffee and a small selection of cookies on it. Besides that and several people milling around, the room was empty.

The three men spoke briefly but companionably with the men they knew. Most were divorced, like Lucas, or abandoned, like Jake, but several were widowers as Nathan was. All shared a kinship, a common bond because of the difficult situation they all lived in every day. Nathan recalled his first few meetings, desperate to learn everything he could about bringing up a baby. Lucas had only joined him later on, desperate to how to learn how to braid hair and make sure his daughter never felt unloved.

They sat in chairs together as the room gradually filled and men made their way towards the centre of the room. There was little official structure to what went on. Mostly it was men confessing what they found difficult, other men inputting what they had learned from experience. Men commiserating about what had happened in their lives that had left them alone and raising children.

After listening to a father of a young son speak of his son's aggressive behavior in nursery school, and the father of a teenage girl speak of his daughter encountering clique problems in high school, Nathan stood up to speak.

"Hey, my name is Nathan Scott. For those of you who don't know I have an eleven year old daughter, Celia. Cecelia, actually. We live with my brother Lucas and his daughter, Cassie. And things are going pretty well."

Nathan paused, knowing there was no point in coming to say so little.

"So that's only sort of true. Things _were_ going really well, but everything is more complicated now. I mean mostly for Lucas, but also for me. I'm dating someone, for the first time really since my wife died," he said, sparing a glance at an incredulous Lucas. "And I don't know what to tell Celia. I mean she said to me a while ago that she thought I should date, but I'm worried she'll be freaked out about it in actual practice. And I don't even know where it's going, so I don't want to mess with Celia's world if I don't have to."

"Does Celia know the woman you're dating?" asked the officiator of the group in interest. Nathan nodded reluctantly.

"Yeah, that's what makes it really complicated. She's her teacher. And she really likes her, but it's still weird."

One of the men in the circle nodded in apparent appreciation of this sentiment.

"I was dating my daughter's riding coach a few years ago, but she kept trying to sabotage it so in the end it didn't work out. And when my ex – wife found out all hell broke loose," he said sadly.

"I'm a widower," said Nathan defensively. "But I really like her. Haley. She understands the situation, and agrees that we shouldn't say anything to Celia yet. She's amazing."

Lucas watched his younger brother smile to himself, apparently in recollection. He was having trouble comprehending that his brother's shy, careful courtship had resulted in anything at all.

Nathan stood down, apparently done with sharing. Lucas stood up quickly.

"So I guess you know from that that I'm Lucas Scott, Nathan's brother. I have an eleven year old daughter named Cassie, I'm divorced and my ex – wife just showed up for the first time in years."

The crowd nodded appreciatively. Difficult marriage breakups was something they could almost all sympathize with.

"But it's complicated, because she's not Cassie's mother and Cassie is beginning to figure it out. She and Celia met her birth mother in a grocery store and she recognized them, so now Cassie is suspicious. And Peyton came back to try to figure things out with us, which is weird because I don't think she remotely wants to get back with me, and it's weird that she's trying so hard to bond with Cassie because she left pretty abruptly five years ago and hasn't had much interest since."

"As I recall Cassie was the result of an affair?" asked the group leader. Lucas nodded reluctantly. "Can't you understand how Peyton must be feeling? It would be very difficult to love a child who would be a constant reminder of her husband's infidelities, day after day. I can understand Peyton giving up after trying to for six years."

"She didn't just try. She loves Cassie."

"But only as much as you let her?" guessed the leader. Lucas frowned and dropped back into his seat.

"You guys live in a freaking soap opera..." muttered a man to Nathan's left.

The eyes of the group leader twinkled in amusement. He turned to Jake.

"Do you have any part in this drama? You're a friend, if I recall correctly," he said. Jake shook his head hurriedly. "No part at all?"

Nathan laughed.

"It's okay man. I told Lucas you were flirting with Peyton. He never loved her the same way after he met Brooke, anyway."

Lucas looked as if he were about to punch his brother, but managed to resist the urge as Jake stood.

"Hi. I'm Jake Jagielski and I have an eleven year old daughter named Jenny. Her mother left when she was born. I've recently made friends with Peyton, but quite frankly I wouldn't trust her enough to let her into my life just yet. I won't have Jenny abandoned by anyone else if I can help it," he said, almost fiercely.

"Peyton's not a quitter, Jake. She didn't abandon me so much as I abandoned her," said Lucas. Jake nodded, sat back down, and for the rest of the meeting all three were silent.

* * *

Lucas turned on his brother as soon as they were outside and away from the crowd.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded. "Last time I check all that was my business, not yours."

"You made it my business. What the hell are you doing, anyway? What's Peyton going to be able to fix, being here? She deserves to go on with her life. You both do. Clearly you're never going to get over Brooke, clearly Brooke is never going to get over you. I mean I'm not going to lie and say I approve, but it's your life."

"What are you, telling me to be brave? You couldn't even work up the guts to tell me you were dating Haley until..."

Jake reluctantly stepped in between them, clearly worried that Lucas would turn on him.

"Knock it off guys. This isn't helping anything," he said firmly.

"And you are? So you're hitting on my wife?" demanded Lucas of Jake.

"First of all she's not your wife and second of all no, I'm not. We talked. Once."

This burst of logic seemed to calm Lucas and he backed off several feet.

"You're dating Haley?" he asked slowly.

"Yeah. I would have told you, but it was kind of overshadowed by your drama," explained Nathan. Lucas nodded in understanding.

"Want to head home?" he asked.

"Nah. I need to clear my head. I think I'll head to Haley's, it isn't far," he said. Lucas nodded, and went toward the car with Jake trailing after him.

Nathan waited until they were gone and pulled out his cellphone. He stared at the number he had programmed into it days ago in preparation for this moment.

He dialed and waited for it to ring. Though he had never before spoken to her on the phone, her voice was instantly familiar to him.

"Brooke," he said flatly. He felt her recognize his own voice.

"Nathan?"

"Yeah. It's time for you to come back," he said abruptly. "Cassie needs a mother, and Lucas... needs you."

"I don't think I can."

"I don't think you have a choice. You're a mother, Brooke. Start acting like one."

He hung up the phone, feeling relatively pleased with himself. Tossing his cell back into his pocket, he began jogging toward Haley's house.


	11. The Missing Link

Chapter Eleven: The Missing Link

* * *

Author's note: So once again, it has been ridiculously long since I've updated and once again I'm SO sorry. Basically I started college and my life was crazy and I feel bad because you guys deserve to know what happens, so I'm going to do my best to keep updating. Please review, hope you enjoy this one.

* * *

If nothing else, Brooke Davis had always been able to see the best in an opportunity.

And if nothing else, this was an opportunity. A terrifying one, and one she thought she would never have to face, but an opportunity just the same. As she stepped out of a cab and onto the sidewalk, she forced herself to remember this.

In her right hand she clutched the now faded photograph she had with her for eleven long years. The picture of the dark haired baby with the hazel eyes who looked stubbornly and irrevocably like her, and would forever even if Peyton Scott was always her mother, even if she never knew Brooke existed.

She had only had this photograph of Cassie, had not known her grown up face until she had seen her in the grocery store. Cassie had looked different, but not enough. Not enough that she didn't recognize her. Not enough that when Brooke saw her for the first time in eleven years she didn't fall in love with her all over again, love her just as much as the one and only time she had ever held her in her arms and cried tears of happiness and pain.

It did not take her long to locate her destination. Tree Hill was a place she had once known well, and it had not changed much.

The man sitting on the bench did not turn to face her when she sat. She crossed her legs and waited for him to speak.

"Hello, Brooke," he said eventually. She smiled to herself, glad not to be the one to speak first.

"Hey Nathan."

Nathan finally turned to face her. She looked more different than he had realized. More makeup, less of her dimpled smile. He looked older, too. More solid, less of a boy. A man now.

"How's Daytona?" asked Brooke after a moment, realizing he was not about to speak again. She had only met Nathan's wife briefly, but had remembered liking her. Nathan frowned.

"She died after Celia was born."

Brooke winced, and mentally tried to think of anything she could have said that possibly would have been worse. She decided there was nothing.

"Nathan, I..."

"It's fine. I didn't ask you here to talk about that," he said.

"Why did you?"

"Peyton's back."

"_Back?"_

"I keep forgetting how much you missed out on. It didn't turn out how you wanted it to, Brooke. Peyton left Lucas when Cassie was six because they could never get over what happened between you too. She's been pretty much absent since. But now she's here, again."

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked.

"Because I'm not going to let Peyton and Lucas get back together out of habit just to fall apart and break Cassie even more. She deserves better. She deserves to know her mother. At least when you abandoned her, you thought you were doing it for her best interests. And Lucas..." Nathan paused and Brooke stayed silent, well aware of how difficult this would be for him to say. "Lucas deserves to be happy. And he's never going to be, without you."

"But you _hate_ me."

"I don't hate you. And this isn't about me."

Brooke nodded. She let herself imagine her future in its most ideal light, as she only let herself do in moments of weakness. Pictured finally knowing her beautiful daughter, being with Lucas and finally living out the love that had been tormenting them for over a decade.

"I don't understand what it is you want me to do. Cassie is Lucas' daughter, legally. I can't just go in and announce I'm her mother and that I want to be part of her life. I wouldn't. It's not fair."

"Start slow."

"Where could I possibly start?"

Nathan nodded at a figure in the distance. She gasped in recognition as he drew closer. As Nathan got up to meet him, she fought the impulse to get up off the bench as well.

"Don't blame her. I told her to meet me, she didn't even know you were coming," she heard him mutter.

Lucas walked toward the bench and stood in front of her. She blinked rapidly. She could not see him properly with the sun behind him. She rose to look directly at him.

She stood unsteadily. He reached out to touch her arm as if to steady her. She could now see his face – the same scruffy facial hair, the same blue eyes that were just as full of pain now as they had been then. She resisted the urge to touch him, to make sure he was really there, to wallow in their closeness, to drink it in with the eagerness she desired. Brooke shut her eyes tightly and found herself wondering whether or not she was affecting him just as deeply.

He sat down on the bench where Nathan had been sitting. He sat just as she remembered – back straight, feet both on the ground and far apart. She sat now demurely, her left leg crossed over her right. She tried to remember how she used to sit and found she could not. With surprise she realized how much more of him she remembered than she remembered of herself.

"You look different."

Brooke frowned. In a movie, these would not be the first lines spoken between ex – lovers after a decade of being apart. But then, their relationship never had been conventional.

"You look the same."

But he did not. Even as she spoke she knew it wasn't true. He looked older in the same way that Nathan did.

"So Cassie didn't figure out who I was?" asked Brooke bluntly. He shook his head.

"She's still trying to put the pieces together. I still can't figure out if I want her to."

Lucas looked sideways at Brooke, who was looking at him so entreatingly. He laughed cynically.

"I'm mad at you. Why is that? You did me a favour. You honestly thought that it would be best for all of us, and I think a part of me did too. You really thought that letting her grow up with a real family would be best for her, so I let you leave. You could have stuck around, and everything would have been different but we both knew I wouldn't have been able to stay away from you. I never could. So you left, and I let you. I was in love with you. I'm mad at you, and it's not even your fault," said Lucas bitterly.

"Don't do this."

"I've been doing this for eleven years."

Brooke looked away when she saw the intense look on his face, the one he had worn so often when they were together and he had felt guilt over cheating on his wife so shamelessly. The look he wore when he knew what he was doing was wrong but just loved her too much to care.

"Peyton left?" continued Brooke. Lucas laughed at her complete lack of a subtle buildup.

"Years ago. I guess she thought she was doing the right thing, too. You know, I never got to choose what I thought was the right thing."

"You did the right thing. Always have. I saw Cassie in Raleigh. You did good with her, Luke," said Brooke.

"I kept expecting you to come back. And call me Luke again, and Peyton wouldn't even matter. We would figure it out, right? But you never did," said Lucas.

"I wanted to. Every day," she swore.

"There have been a lot of days between then and now, Brooke," said Lucas skeptically.

"Trust me. I know."

Lucas sighed and thought back to the first day in the long string of days. He had not thought about the day in years, and realized that part of him wished he could forget it.

_Flashback_

"_Are you Lucas Scott?"_

_Lucas clumsily placed the cup of coffee he'd been holding back on the table and stood up to greet the woman who had spoken to him. He raised his eyebrows in surprise. He'd been expecting a slightly older woman, one who was obviously already a mother. Without realizing it he already had a clear vision of what the potential surrogate would look like. The woman standing before him did not match it in the slightest._

_She was of average height and slender, though not as much as his wife was. It struck him instantly how utterly different this woman was from Peyton – dark haired as opposed to light, shorter and curvier, cheerful and not moody. He smiled awkwardly at her and wondered what the correct protocol for this meeting was. He gestured to the seat opposite him._

"_Sit down. My wife is running late," he said. She sat across from him and he forced himself to stop scrutinizing her._

"_It's fine. I was hoping to get to know the both of you, anyway," said the woman._

"_Yeah. I get that. Peyton said she talked to you on the phone, but she didn't mention your name..."_

"_Oh, Brooke. Brooke Davis."_

_Lucas nodded and reached out to shake her hand, their introduction now complete. She smiled a dimpled smile at him and instinctively he found himself smiling back. He relaxed slightly. He was beginning to enjoy being in her company, somehow it was so much less oppressive than being with Peyton at home, where everything was to tense and unhappy._

"_I wasn't expecting someone like you," he admitted frankly._

"_Yeah. The agency didn't even want to let me. They said I was too young, and was too likely to get attached. I just wanted to do something good, help someone," she said. _

_Lucas nodded in apparent understanding._

"_Did you grow up around here, Brooke Davis?" he asked. _

"_Not really. I came out here after I got tired of the city. Did you?"_

"_Yeah. Both of us. Peyton and I got married pretty soon after high school," said Lucas._

"_That's sweet. I don't even remember the names of all the guys I dated in high school." _

_Lucas opened his mouth as if to comment, but seemed to realize it was inappropriate and closed his mouth again. She stifled a giggle._

"_It was hard for us when we found out we couldn't have a child. We had everything going for us, and then... I really appreciate you doing this for us." Lucas frowned at his words. "I mean, if you do decided to do this for us..."_

_Brooke reached across the table and put his hand over his._

"_Like I said. I want to help."_

_Lucas smiled at her, but quickly removed his hand when the door to the cafe opened. Brooke looked over her shoulder and was instantly intimidated by the leggy blonde that came to their table and smiled at the pair of them._

"_Hey. Brooke Davis, this is my wife Peyton."_

_Peyton shook Brooke's hand before sitting beside her husband. Brooke looked downward uncomfortably while Peyton briefly assessed her._

"_Who don't you tell us about yourself, Brooke?" inquired Peyton pleasantly. Brooke looked back up and tried to think of something intelligent and useful she could say and found she could not. _

"_Brooke grew up outside of Tree Hill and moved here recently," said Lucas helpfully, jumping in to rescue her. Brooke sent him a grateful smile and continued, the playful atmosphere of their meeting now gone._

_Lucas took Peyton's hand as they walked toward their car after the meeting. Brooke walked away in the opposite direction._

"_So? What did you think?" he asked._

"_I don't think she's the right fit," said Peyton bluntly. He frowned._

"_Really? I thought she seemed good."_

"_I noticed._

"_Peyton..."_

"_Sorry. It's just hard," said Peyton._

_Lucas put his arm around his wife's shoulders and squeezed them reassuringly. In that moment, he was quite sure he would never see Brooke Davis again._

_End of Flashback_

Lucas broke out of his reverie when he realized that Brooke was staring at him. He briefly remembered the events that had followed – Peyton and him meeting other potential surrogates, him slowly forming a friendship with Brooke that began with the two of them discussing his difficulties with Peyton and blossomed into their affair. Brooke becoming pregnant, which eventually "solved" all of their problems, albeit leaving them all in misery. He sighed painfully and stood up.

"Are you leaving?" asked Brooke.

"No. We are. Nathan was right. Cassie does deserve to know her mother."

Brooke stood as well, looking shaky.

"What? You want her to learn everything? _Now?"_

"We can start slow."

"You mean you want her to meet me, but you don't want her to know I'm her mother?"

Lucas nodded.

He took her hand as if by instinct and led her toward a parked car. As they drove toward Tree Hill Elementary School, she thought once more of the girl she had been thinking of every day for eleven years.


	12. Lost Girls

Chapter Twelve: Lost Girls

* * *

Author's note: So it hasn't been QUITE as long between posts this time, but I'm still going to try and get better. Also post more naley chapters, because you guys definitely deserve it. There will be some naley the next chapter, and even more the chapter after that.

As ever, thanks for reading and reviewing. And also for your patience - those of you who have read my previous stories are probably used to me posting a lot more often. Thanks for sticking with me!

* * *

Brooke followed Lucas onto the playground. She wished, briefly, that they would hold hands so that so that she could feel closer to him, but she knew it would be a giveaway.

The first of the two children to emerge out of the building was not Cassie, but Celia. Brooke looked at her in interest, barely having noticed her when she had seen them last. Celia did not look like her father, except in the eyes. She was short and less slim than Cassie, though neither girl was chubby.

After greeting her uncle she turned to Brooke in surprise.

"You're Brooke, right? We saw you at the grocery store," she said. Brooke nodded and held out her hand.

"Yes. My name is Brooke Davis," she said. Celia shook her hand.

"My name is Cecilia Grace Scott," said Celia stiffly.

"That's a very pretty name."

Celia beamed. She was fond of her full name, but could not remember ever having been called by it.

Brooke opened her mouth to continue her conversation with her, but she was distracted by movement in the corner of her eye. She turned to see a dark haired girl walking toward them. One she recognized without hesitation. Her daughter.

Words died in her mouth as the young girl looked curiously up at her. From the look on her face it was obvious that on Cassie's part, there was no instant recognition. Only curiosity.

With Celia she had been able to be outgoing and bubbly, but officially meeting Cassie was different.

"Hi. I'm Cassie, but I guess you already know that?" asked Cassie, remedying the situation when it became uncomfortable.

"Yes, of course. My name is Brooke," she replied calmly.

Cassie stared curiously at Brooke, wondering why she was trying so desperately to avoid her gaze. Unaware that Brooke was trying to keep from staring, Cassie assumed that Brooke had some reason to dislike her. She moved closer to Celia.

"Do you guys want to do something fun?" suggested Lucas.

"Like what?" asked Cassie cautiously.

"Like go to the movies. I'm sure there's some Disney movie you guys are dying to see, involving a fairly chaste love story and people singing and dancing in the end," he said. The girls ignored the second part of his suggestion, intrigued by the first.

"Yeah. There probably is," said Cassie calmly, in contrast with Celia's obvious excitement.

"Good. Let's go."

* * *

Lucas suggested the girls sit alone together, leaving him and Brooke to sit together in the abandoned back row.

Lucas closed his eyes with a small sigh when the movie started, blaring upbeat pop music around the theatre.

"I thought you'd be used to this kind of thing by now," said Brooke, barley bothering to keep her voice low.

"I am. Doesn't mean I like it," he said. She smiled.

"You seem to like it. You're amazing with them. I mean, if I didn't know I wouldn't even know that they weren't both your daughters. Celia even looks kind of like you," said Brooke.

"I know. And everyone thinks Cassie looks like Nathan. But really she looks like you," he said.

"So you noticed?" she asked, somewhat sarcastically.

"Every day."

They lapsed in to silence. Brooke attempted to follow the movie, but lost interest after seeing several seconds and realizing she could already guess the ending. She turned back to Lucas. She wished there was something she could say to make this less awkward, to convey how much she regretted not being with him, but knew there was nothing.

"Why did you come back, Brooke?" he asked suddenly. His voice was calm, as if he were asking her opinions on the movie or asking her to pass the popcorn. She knew he was angry, had been angry for years, but it didn't show.

"Because I want things to be right."

"With Cassie?"

"Yes, of course with Cassie. And with you."

He looked at her, and for a moment all he wanted was her, and wished that there was nothing that could keep him from reaching for her and kissing her and bringing her home with him and finally being able to spend his life with her. But there was so much between them, and he didn't know how to begin to overcome it all.

"You should know that Peyton is back," he said bluntly.

"I do know. Nathan told me. I think that's why he wanted me to come. I guess I'm the lesser of two evils," she said, hoping he would laugh.

Lucas did not. It was too close to the truth for it to be funny at all.

"Does she want to get back together with you?" asked Brooke.

"No. I don't think she even wants to try and mother Cassie. I think she just doesn't want Cassie to think she abandoned her," stated Lucas.

"Why wouldn't she want to try to be her mother again?" asked Brooke.

"Because I don't think she ever felt like she was. There was just so much happening. And I loved Cassie so much, and she was all I had to remind me of you."

Lucas looked intensely at Brooke. Her eyes had adjusted to the light and she could now make out his face almost perfectly.

"And Cassie belonged to me and you. Not me and Peyton. We both knew it all along."

Brooke looked across to Lucas, and the urge to touch him was stronger than ever. If there had been less baggage between them, she knew she would have. She had never felt such a strong physical attraction to anyone she had ever met. Everyone she had been with in the last ten years suddenly seemed insignificant to her.

He looked sharply at her and she was certain he knew exactly what was running through her head.

"God, Brooke, why did you come back?" His frown faded, and became something vaguely akin to a smile. "For that matter, why did you ever leave?"

She moved as close to him as she could with the armrest between them and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. For the rest of the light, fluffy, film they sat in silence together and pretended they were a normal couple, doing a normal couple thing.

* * *

Jake Jagielski shifted awkwardly while he waited for someone to answer. His parents had volunteered to take care of Jenny for the evening, leaving him free to do as he wished. He had been somewhat reluctant, seeing as outside Jenny he had very little social life. He had settled on going to visit the Scotts.

He was surprised when the door was not answered by Nathan or Lucas, or even one of the girls, but by Peyton.

"Hey, Jake. Are you here to see Nathan and Luke?" she asked pleasantly. Obviously she was completely un – phased. He resisted the urge to stare at her. She was beautiful, in exactly the way that had intimidated him in high school. She didn't play it up, she didn't even seem to be fully aware of it.

"Yeah. Are they not here?" he asked.

"No. Nathan's on a date with his super secret girlfriend and Lucas is out somewhere with the girls. Want to come in?" she asked.

He hesitated. Though on some level he found her very appealing – for reasons such as the fact that she was wearing skinny jeans and a tank top for her casual evening – on other levels he was unable to reconcile himself with the fact that she had abandoned her child. As Nikki had done.

"You don't have many female friends, do you Jake?" she asked teasingly. Reflecting on how very right she was, he followed her inside and shut the door.

She led him into the kitchen.

"You're not staying here, are you?" he asked in surprise.

"No. I was supposed to meet Lucas and the girls here, but I guess they went out or something. Where's yours?" she asked.

"Jenn's with my parents. You know when I was in high school I used to wish for a normal life all the time, and now that she doesn't need me as much I don't know what to do with myself," he admitted.

"It'll take a while. It's hard to make your life again," she said.

"You managed."

His tone was somewhat snide, and instantly he felt guilty for it. She looked down, and he walked toward her.

"Sorry. It's complicated. I know that."

"No, you don't. Because you weren't there, so you have no idea how hard it was for me. How hard it still is."

She looked back up at him.

"So don't you dare judge me. I'm not her."

Now feeling guilty, Jake put his arms around her and hugged her, letting the tension of the moment pour away as she rested her head on his shoulder and relaxed as well.

"I know you're not her. She had no trouble leaving."

Peyton detached herself from Jake and looked up at him sympathetically.

"What happened?"

"Nikki and I started dating in high school. We were madly in love, we had an incredibly unplanned baby who I loved more than anything in the entire world, and Nikki just... didn't. She left a few months after she was born. She showed up later and tried to get custody, but when the judge turned her down she had to leave again. And I haven't seen her since."

Peyton nodded. He became suddenly aware of how closely they were still standing. Impulsively he grabbed her hand, but released it again almost instantly when the door opened and three voices floated towards them.

She sprang away from them and they waited in silence for the three to meet them. Celia and Cassie entered first, chatting animatedly amongst themselves, while Lucas followed more sedately.

"Where were you guys?" asked Peyton of Lucas, curiosity in her voice.

"Oh, we..."

"We went to the movies with Lucas' friend Brooke," said Celia brightly. "It was so much fun, we..."

Peyton did not cut Celia off, but ever after she had no recollection of how the girl ended her sentence. Lucas' eyes immediately met those of his ex – wife, pleading with her to be silent.

Peyton had thought that since she was so thoroughly over Lucas the pain would have vanished as well, but she was wrong.

The pain was still there.


	13. Fall Right Back In to Where You Started

Chapter Thirteen: Fall Right Back in to Where You Started

"Today in class Celia was saying that her Aunt Peyton is visiting," said Haley lightly.

Nathan frowned to himself. They were sitting on the sofa in her apartment, a place where he found sanctuary from the ongoing drama in his own home.

"Yeah. Lucas invited her, to try and make sense of the whole situation with Brooke and stuff. I don't think she'll be staying long," he said. He put his arm around Haley's shoulders, hoping to distract her from their conversation. But she was not to be swayed.

"And today after school Lucas picked them up and he had a girl with him. She looked like the one from the supermarket. Brooke."

"Uh, yeah. She's in town."

Haley was silent. By this clue, and by the fact that she was now inching away from him on the couch, she was now angry at him for some unfathomable girl reason. He held back a sigh.

"I'm sorry for not telling you," he said, guessing the reason for her duress. "With everything that's been going on at home, I like coming here just to escape it all. And I like being with you, Haley."

Haley smiled slightly, reluctantly.

"And I promise that the next time I need to vent my feelings, I'll come straight to you instead of bottling them up and hiding them. Happy?" he asked.

"Ecstatic," she said dryly, leaning up to kiss him lightly on the lips. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her underneath him on the couch, letting his hand slid up her shirt as she fell onto her back with him atop her.

She let out a noise of surprise but was silenced as their kiss deepened, as his hand slid up and she felt her nerves tingle in response.

"You were just trying to shut me up, weren't you?"she murmured, as his lips left hers to kiss her neck.

"Depends. Is it working?" he asked. Her lips found his again and they kissed again, longer and more passionately. He took this as an affirmative, and allowed his hand to roam further upwards.

* * *

When Nathan arrived home to the semi – dark house, he could tell something was wrong.

He could tell even before he came across Lucas and Peyton, sitting in silence in the dining room. Before he noticed that even though it was only a half hour after Celia and Cassie's bed time, neither of their lights were on and there was no evidence that one had sneaked in to the room of the other.

Slowly he sank into the dining room chair across from his brother and looked apprehensively at him.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Did you really think you could bring her in to town and I just wouldn't find out, Nathan?" asked Peyton coldly. He flinched.

"She's still here?"

"We took the girls to a movie this afternoon. Celia spilled."

"She's eleven years old and as far as she knows Brooke is just some old friend of yours. How is she supposed to keep that a secret?" snapped Peyton.

"So we are? Keeping this a secret?" asked Nathan.

"Why don't you decide? You're the one who decided that she should be brought back into our lives," said Peyton sarcastically.

"Don't talk to me like it isn't my business. Cassie might as well be my child, I've lived with her long enough," said Nathan in annoyance.

"And I haven't, I get it. Don't you get tired up there on your high horse?" asked Peyton in annoyance. Nathan refrained from responding, though he seemed to find it difficult.

"Basically we need to figure out how we want to do this," said Lucas, ignoring the other two while they gave each other dirty looks.

"What?"

"What we want Cassie to know. When we want her to know it. She already knows that you're not her birth mother, but do you want her to know about Brooke? Should we wait until she's older? Should we let her get to know Brooke better?" pondered Lucas.

"It's obvious what you want to do," said Peyton snidely.

Nathan frowned and thought back to only an hour previously, making out with Haley on the couch, feeling like a teenager once more. The same feeling he had every time he was with her, the feeling that he never wanted to leave. It was so much preferable to the darkness that had been surrounding their house for days. For weeks.

"Guys, the solution here is obvious," said Nathan, after another few moments of silence. Peyton and Lucas both turned to him in surprise, as if they had forgotten he was there.

"What?" asked Lucas.

"Clearly you want to be with Brooke. Clearly Brooke wants to be with you. Clearly if you thought it wouldn't work out you wouldn't have let her meet Cassie, so clearly you think it will. Cassie deserves to know the truth, guys," said Nathan. "Keeping it a secret only made sense when you thought you were going to be together forever."

Having said his fill on the matter, Nathan left the room. Peyton and Lucas were silent, once more.

"He's right," said Peyton finally.

"He grew up way before the rest of us. He's usually right," agreed Lucas.

"I'm going to go to bed," said Peyton abruptly. Lucas almost smiled. Something never did change.

He watched her leave the kitchen, heard her footsteps go down the hall and toward the stairs. Frowning himself, he remembered that this really wasn't the right way to go about it.

He ran after her. She stopped, three steps up, when she heard him behind her.

"It's my fault," he said.

"What is?"

"Everything. You not having a baby like you wanted, us not being in love anymore, you never feeling connected to Cassie. It's not your fault, it's mine. I know I've tried to make you feel guilty but you don't deserve that. We'll do whatever you want," said Lucas sincerely. "I owe that to you."

Peyton smiled at him. Sometimes it was hard to remember how they had ever been so in love, but sometimes it was easy.

"We should do whatever she wants. And what she wants is a mother." Peyton paused. "She should know about Brooke."

Peyton turned around to leave. Lucas continued up the stairs, stopping in briefly to check on his daughter.

* * *

Once in her car again, Peyton tried her best to regulate her breathing.

She looked up to the second floor window where she knew her ex – husband would now be. Checking in on his daughter – her daughter no more. Though she never really had been, Peyton suddenly felt the loss in agony. It would be easy for Cassie to look to Brooke as her mother, she knew. Cassie desperately wanted a mother, and Brooke desperately wanted Cassie. Peyton would be all but forgotten, and she knew it would be better for Cassie.

Peyton had never had much, but now she felt as though she had nothing.

She was as surprised as he was when he opened the front door to find her on his doorstep.

* * *

"Peyton?"

"Hey. I'm sorry, I know it's late. I just need a place to stay, I couldn't be with Luke right now," explained Peyton.

Jake nodded and stepped aside, inviting her to enter.

"You can stay. I'll take the couch, you can take my room," said Jake. He stared after her as she began to ascend the staircase.

"Peyton, what happened?" he asked.

Peyton didn't even consider that it was out of line, that she didn't have to answer him. She only was glad that he was her friend, because she had so few. She was glad he was not Lucas or Nathan, even if he did sympathize with their side of the story.

"How much do you know?" she asked cautiously.

"More than you think, probably," he admitted.

Peyton sat down on the step she'd been sitting on.

"Brooke's back. We're going to tell Cassie everything. So as of probably sometime next week, I will no longer have a family," said Peyton.

"You're telling Cassie?" asked Jake in surprise. "Why?"

"Because I want what's best for her." Peyton frowned. "Don't look so surprised, Jake. I always have."

Sighing to himself and all at once feeling three inches tall, he reached down to pull her up to his height. As he put his arms around her to comfort her her body sagged in to his as if it had been a long time since she had been hugged. As if it had been forever because she had been alone for so long.

"Thank you," she murmured, her words muffled by his chest. Attempting to stifle his body's reaction to her, he kissed the top of her head and slowly released his hold on her.

His hands slid down to her elbows, but he found he had no desire to stop touching her entirely. Surprising himself, he leaned down and lightly touched his lips to hers.

Peyton was surprised by how easily, how willingly, she responded. Perhaps it was because of how many years she had been infatuated with Lucas, perhaps because of how many years after she had been infatuated with the idea of him.

As Peyton put her arms around his neck to draw him closer to her, Jake marveled at how good this was, at how he had forgotten. It had been so long. He had been busy raising his daughter and he could never bring himself to regret it, but it had been so, so long. And Peyton was so beautiful, and so much more of a woman than any of the girls he could vaguely remember being with, back in high school. Pulling her body in to his, he slowly let his hands wander under her shirt and upward.

Pulling away from her for a moment, he realized that she was crying.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing." She tried to pull him back down for another kiss, but he resisted.

"Is it Lucas? Are you using me to get back at him?" asked Jake.

"Does it matter?" she asked flirtatiously.

Jake frowned and took her hands off him, gathering them in his own.

"Of course it does. Luke is my best friend."

Peyton moved back into his arms and hesitatingly he hugged her back, murmuring words of comfort into her blonde curls.

"Nothing last forever, Peyton. This always had to end. Now you can finally start over," he said soothingly.

Hearing no sounds but her sobs, Jake knew she was in no mood to talk to him. Sighing, he lifted her into his arms like a lover and carried her up the stairs.

She turned away from him and wrapped the covers around her shoulders when he had deposited her on the bed. He slowly reached out to touch her shoulder.

"This is my room. You can sleep her tonight, I'll sleep downstairs," he said. She moved, an almost unnoticed nod. Closing the door behind him, he went down the stairs.

* * *

Try as he might, Jake Jagielski was unable to sleep.

He couldn't take his mind off the woman asleep in his bed. The woman who he wanted to be friends with, because he suspected that she needed it, but whom he could not help desiring. He had wanted her as long as he had known her, ever since the first night on the Scott's porch. He hadn't known her or trusted her but, God help him, he had _wanted_ her.

He thought of his daughter, sleeping peacefully in her room, unaware that her life was any different than it had been yesterday or last week or last year. But he couldn't pretend any more that Jenny was the reason he had to keep away from her. Jake knew that Peyton would never hurt him – would never hurt either of them.

Telling himself that his resolve was not failing, that he was only going upstairs to check on her, he began to climb the stairs.

* * *

Peyton found that she could sleep, surprisingly, but Jake wasn't making it easy for her.

He seemed to think he was being discreet, walking past her bedroom once every few hours, as if to see if she was still there, as if hoping he would find the courage to go inside.

At around two in the morning she awoke again to his footsteps outside her door.

"Jake?"

He was in the door within moments, as if he had been waiting for her to call.

"Yeah?"

He stared at her as she sat up in bed, a sheet loosely wrapped around her upper body. Slowly she stood, her hands still holding the sheet around herself, and walked toward him.

He tried to control his shallow, irregular breaths as she reached him and stood only inches away from his body.

"I'm not using you," she said firmly. She leaned up and kissed him lightly, as if daring him to continue.

Deepening the kiss, he took her hands in his own, allowing the sheet to drop to the floor.

"I know," he murmured, leading her to the bed, falling backward onto it and pulling her down with him.


	14. I See You Now, I Saw You Then

Chapter Fourteen: I See You Now, I Saw You Then

"_Nathan?"_

_She was sure she heard soft footsteps coming down the hall toward her, but instinct told her that they meant no harm._

"_Shh. Go back to bed."_

_It was so easy, she wanted that. _

_

* * *

_

"Nathan?"

"Hey Hales."

He smiled at her bewildered expression.

"I thought I was dreaming. What are you doing here? What time is it?" she asked.

"Six. I came last night at midnight. It's a long story," he explained.

"Tell me."

"Peyton found out about Brooke, all hell broke loose. Lucas knows I'm here. I have to get back before the girls wake up."

Haley nodded in confusion. They were both in her bed in her apartment, where she had gone to bed alone but woken up with him. She reached out to grab his hand.

"But not yet?" she asked. He shook his head and lay back down, spooning her.

"Not yet," he agreed.

* * *

When she awoke again, he was out of the bed and putting his clothes back on.

"You're leaving?" she asked.

"Celia will wonder why I'm not there. I mean, Luke is enough of a mess as it is, and Peyton probably left. I need to be there," he said. He leaned down to briefly kiss her lips.

"Will you pick them up from school?" she asked, her voice small as he moved to leave.

"Yeah. I'll see you then."

He left quickly, before Haley could ask any more questions – questions of when he would tell his daughter of her, of when they would spend a night together that did not end at seven in the morning and start at midnight. These questions left unanswered, she fell back onto her bed and fell asleep once more.

* * *

Haley was late to school, but only by several minutes. The Scott girls were almost half an hour late. Knowing the reason for it Haley was inclined to be lenient, but she knew she could not be without suspicion. She punished them reluctantly by making them stay in during recess.

Cassie looked stoic when Haley told them this, quietly, without gathering attention to it in front of the rest of the students, but Celia looked to be near tears.

She waited until Cassie was buried in a book in the back of the classroom to confront her about it.

Celia looked up in surprise when her teacher sat down beside her in one of the small wooden desks.

"Hey Ms. James," she greeted her.

"Hey Celia. Is everything going okay?" she asked, her voice low. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Cassie doing her best to pretend she couldn't see anything.

"Like, at school?"

"Like, at home. Or wherever," said Haley encouragingly.

"Nothing's wrong," said Celia affirmatively.

"Are you sure? Fighting with Cassie? No date to the big dance?" asked Haley, half joking and half serious. Celia smiled.

"Cassie and I never fight. And I have like, three dates to the dance."

Haley permitted herself to smile. Celia, with her long blonde hair and her father's blue eyes, was not the type to lack dates to the dance. If she was coming in to her awkward stage, it wasn't obvious.

"Fine. Forget I asked," said Haley. Celia looked torn for a moment as Haley slowly arose from her chair.

"Okay. It's just that there was yelling last night, when they thought we were sleeping. Peyton and Lucas, which made Cassie all upset so we didn't go to sleep for a long time and then Uncle Lucas woke us up which was weird, because it was Daddy's day to take us to school but he didn't come until later, saying he'd been walking Shannon but clearly he was not walking Shannon because Shannon was chasing squirrels in the back yard."

Sometime within this speech Haley detected that Shannon was the family dog. She frowned to herself, knowing the answers to most of Celia's unanswered questions but unable to answer them.

"I'm sure they'll tell you if something is wrong, Celia. But I'm sure it will all sort itself out," said Haley, feeling guilty as she spoken this vague line which she knew to be untrue.

"Seriously? That's your idea of helpful?" said Celia. A moment later she blushed and looked repenting. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

"No, that was pretty lame. Talk to your Dad and Lucas. Let them know it's upsetting you guys," said Haley. Celia nodded as the bell rang and the distant sounds of students clamoring to get back in to the school could be heard.

* * *

Peyton awoke in confusion. She had been sleeping in the spare room at her ex – husband's house, and this was no spare room. For an instant, she forgot.

In the next it came back – Jake comforting her, Jake kissing her. Her seducing Jake because they both wanted it so badly. She frowned as she thought of Brooke, of Lucas. Forcing these thoughts away, she climbed out of bed and grabbed a button up shirt from the closet before heading downstairs.

Jake was making coffee when she arrived in the kitchen. He turned around and smiled at her.

"You look nice," he commented lightly. She blushed. She had not stopped to take in to account how she would look, her long legs mostly visible, the shirt unbuttoned enough to make it apparent how little she was wearing underneath it. She had not bothered to make herself look sexy in a long time.

"Thanks. Sorry, I just grabbed it. I can leave now, if you want. Where's Jenny?" she asked. He handed her a cup of coffee. Her hands closed around it automatically.

"Jenny is already at school. Second of all, please feel welcome to wear my clothes whenever you want. Third of all, why would I want you to leave?"

"Because you didn't seem to really like me, before. Let alone trust me."

"Because I thought things of you that weren't true."

Peyton smiled slightly.

"Just so we're clear, you want me to stay?" she asked.

"Yeah, we're clear."

He leaned forward to kiss her lightly: a morning kiss. She smiled at him and tried to suppress the impulse to giggle like a lovestruck teenager and leap in to his arms.

"I always knew I liked you," she said.

"Well, then you're an excellent judge of character. Me, I kind of suck at it."

She lightly rested her hand on his chest, feeling the fabric of his t – shirt.

"You don't have to work or anything, do you? Because you're wearing a lot of clothing for so early in the morning and I'm feeling like I'm at a disadvantage here..."

Jake hurriedly placed his coffee cup on the counter and pulled off his shirt. She admired his bare chest for a moment before he was kissing her again.

* * *

Haley smiled tightly in response to Nathan's more flirtatious one. He hung back slightly as the girls ran for the car and began to argue over who would get the front seat.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Are you um, still up for chaperoning at the dance?" she asked.

"Are you asking me on a date, Ms. James?" he asked. The cocky, flirtatious attitude was back. Haley reflected how they could never have happened, had they met in high school.

"Look, Celia's really upset. They both are. They know something is going on, they just want you to talk to them about it."

Nathan's face was already beginning to look closed off. She continued quickly, before he could stop her.

"I'm not telling you how to parent your kids, I just..."

"Right, except that you are. I've been doing this a long time Hales. And I've been dealing with Lucas' baggage for a long time too. And I know what I'm doing."

"I'm just trying to help."

"You're my girlfriend, Haley. That what I need you to be right now."

Haley frowned. Over his shoulder he could see the girls, now chatting and looking happier than they had all day.

"Except I'm not. If I was your girlfriend, your daughter would know and you'd take me out in public. And I'm trying to be patient but part of me can't help but wonder if you just can't face with the fact that you used to date cheerleaders and now you're dating an elementary school teacher."

"Haley..."

"I'm going inside now."

"Haley, I'm not ashamed of you," he said, calling after her. "I've never introduced anyone I've been dating to the girls. It would be too hard for them.

Haley whirled around, looking angry.

"How can you be so blind? The girls have been trying to set us up since the moment we met. Well maybe after they told me you were gay, but seriously. Do you really think it was an accident that we ran into each other at the Burning Boat, that we were never interrupted in the hotel in Raleigh, that every time you come to pick them up they disappear within thirty seconds? They're ready, Nathan. It's you that isn't."

Not waiting for him to speak again, not responding as he called after her once more, Haley turned and walked back in to the building.

* * *

Haley smiled when she saw Celia rush into the classroom the next morning behind Cassie, exactly on time. Celia brightly smiled back, showing her that the previous night there had been no yelling and no sneaking out.

Celia stopped briefly at her desk on her way out to recess.

"Ms. James, my Dad wanted me to tell you that he can't make it to the dance because he has a meeting. He says Uncle Lucas can chaperon instead, is that okay?" she asked.

"Of course. Tell your dad it's fine," said Haley, smiling fakely. Celia nodded and continued her way out the door, meeting up with Jenny and Cassie as she went.

Haley flipped open her cell phone and then flipped it closed again. If she hadn't been sure before that they were broken up, she was sure now.


	15. Dreams of You Die Hardest

Chapter Fifteen: Dreams of You Die Hardest

"Wow, I can't believe you're still going to go."

Haley scowled in the mirror at the blonde girl sitting on the toilet in her bathroom – her sister Taylor, a somewhat unwelcome house guest.

"I have to go. It's not like I can choose to be some petty teenager about this, it's my job," said Haley indignantly.

"I like my job _so_ much better," remarked Taylor, her attention back on the magazine in her hands.

Haley rolled her eyes and put her focus back on her reflection. Taylor spoke again without glancing up.

"You know, you might try to dress a little hotter. I mean, isn't his brother going to be there? Clearly he's going to report back..."

Haley frowned. The dress she was wearing was certainly very professional. Knee length and boring, it was the kind of thing she would wear to an office, if she worked in one, or to a particularly dull family function. She slipped it off, leaving her naked except for her underwear. Taylor followed her to her closet and they slowly began to go through the possibilities, discarding dress after dress for it being either too revealing for a grade school dance or too modest.

* * *

"Personally, I can't believe how pathetic you're being. I mean sending in Celia to break up with her for you was pathetic, but I never really thought you were going to go through with it," commented Lucas.

Nathan ignored his brother and concentrated on the pot of boiling water on the stove – it was his turn to cook for the girls, though they both knew that they would be too excited to eat.

Lucas was already dressed in his suit, ready to take the girls to the dance. They arrived moments later, dressed in brightly coloured formal dresses and looking more grown up than they ever had before. Swallowing painfully, Nathan refrained from commenting and served them their dinner.

* * *

Hours later, Taylor and Haley decided on a white dress that was somewhere between Haley's ideals and Taylor's. Taylor drove her to the dance, saying she was going out but once Haley was done she would pick her up.

It was exactly what she remembered from the earliest dances she'd attended – being too young to know how to deal with the opposite sex, to know what you really wanted from them. Smiling slightly, she listened to bad music, watched the girls coo over their dresses and dance awkwardly far apart from the boys.

Lucas and the girls arrived early, but he did not speak to her until the dance was half over and both Celia and Cassie were awkwardly slow dancing to the song coming out of the gym speakers.

He smiled at her, reminding them both how little they had actually spoken. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"Want to dance?" he asked. She nodded. He took her hand and led her to the dance floor before the stares of her students. He slid his other arm around her waist and pulled her in closer to him, slow dancing much closer and less awkwardly than the adolescents. She smiled at the thought.

She wondered vaguely if he was thinking of Brooke Davis, who he would always love, but she could not ask. She reflected it was strange how much she knew about his life without actually knowing him. She wondered if the same were true of Lucas.

"For what it's worth, it took him almost an hour to convince me to come in his place. I really wanted it to work out for you guys," he said. She smiled.

"Thanks. I didn't want to be right about what I said yesterday, but I guess I was," she said sadly.

"What, all that crap..." She frowned up at him and he looked around guiltily before continuing. "That stuff about you being not good enough for him? Haley, that's ridiculous. He was crazy about you before you even started dating. If anything he's worried that he's not good enough for you. He's got a lot of baggage, you know?"

"I know..."

"And for the record, I knew that the girls were trying to set you up, so I let it happen. I figured it would make everything go faster, so I didn't really care," said Lucas.

"You..?"

"And Daytona was not a cheerleader. She didn't even start going to our high school until our senior year and when she did Nathan almost immediately realized what an idiot he'd been for the past four years and from that moment on was a different man. Daytona raced cars spent most of her life being home schooled."

"Lucas," Haley began.

"Wait, I have one more point and then you can go. Nathan does want to introduce you to the girls as his girlfriend, he does want you to be his girlfriend for real. But can't you understand that he's afraid of seeing his whole life disappear? She just _died_, Haley. One minute she was fine and they were having a baby and I'd never seen my baby brother happier. They had everything, and then the next minute she was gone. He's never really going to get over it, but at least he's trying.

The slow song had ended, but Lucas kept her close until the next one had started.

"You're making a pretty strong case," she said.

"I have a feeling you're worthwhile. You make him happy. The only question is, does he make you happy?"

"That's not the only question. He's not here. He gave up. He broke up with me through his daughter. Even if I wanted to go back, it's over."

Surprising her, Lucas smiled.

"What if I told you that _was_ the only question?"

She stared up at him, confused. Suddenly he twirled around and in the next moment she found herself in another pair of arms. She gasped when she met eyes with Nathan, wearing a dress shirt and jacket with no tie, his collar loose, slightly out of breath. She smiled despite herself.

"Wow, could you guys have planned that more?" she asked. He looked genuinely confused.

"What?"

"Lucas was just trying to convince me to take a chance on you," explained Haley.

"Was it working?"

"You backing out of the dance was pretty slimy but since you're here now..." She smiled at his hopeful expression. "Maybe."

He leaned down to kiss her but she pulled away.

"Not that I don't love the gesture, but probably not the best place for that. There are PTA moms everywhere," said Haley. She looked over her shoulder to where his daughter and niece were watching them, eyes as wide as saucers, not even pretending to not be staring.

"I'm sorry. It's been a while since I've done the whole boyfriend thing and to be honest, I always kind of sucked at it. Can we put this behind us, Hales? Can we start again?" asked Nathan.

"You need to give me something, Nathan. I understand if you're not ready for your daughter to know, but I need to know you won't just take off next time we hit a speed bump."

Nathan frowned slightly. Uncomfortable knowing that his daughter's eyes were boring in to his back, he focused her attention all on her.

"Will you be my girlfriend, Haley James?"

For a moment Haley was back in high school – the gym smells, the music, the earnestness of the boy staring down at her.

"Yes, I will, Nathan Scott."

"I _really _want to make out now," he said with a small groan. She smirked.

"Play your cards right and you'll get more than that," said Haley. His eyes widened in disbelief and as if on cue, the last song ended and the gym lights turned back on, signaling the end of the dance. Students began to leave the gym and within moments they were joined by Celia, Cassie and Lucas.

"Did you guys enjoy the dance?" asked Haley. Celia's eyes were moving calculatingly between her and Nathan.

"Yeah, we did," said Cassie, upon her cousin's silence.

"I'll take the girls home," said Nathan, somewhat reluctantly. Lucas smiled.

"No you won't. Don't you have to stay here and help Ms. James clean up?" he asked innocently. Nathan nodded. After hugging them both, the girls left with Lucas.

Celia craned her head to look over her shoulder at her father and Haley holding hands. She looked suspiciously up at her uncle.

"They're dating, aren't they?" she asked. She sighed dramatically when he innocently shrugged his shoulders, but brightened up at his promise of ice cream on the way home.

* * *

Nathan followed Haley in to her apartment, down the short hallway and in to her bedroom. Suddenly he was nervous, like he had been for his first time ever and for his first time with Daytona.

Haley was in front of him, beautiful in her white dress, her hair down on her shoulders. Suddenly he wanted her so badly that he was amazed that they had waited this long, wanted her so badly that he knew he was falling in love with her.

"You... don't want to wait?" he asked, wondering if he could. She shook her head.

"I think we've waited long enough."

In a moment he had stepped forward and she was in his arms, his hands were on her and she didn't stop them, her hands were on him with the same eagerness. He braced himself as they fell onto the bed together, not wanting to crush her beneath him. As they slowly stripped off their clothing and were bare to each other for the first time, he was suddenly without fear. This was new, entirely. He was not the same man who had loved his wife, who had promised to love her forever. He would, but he was not bound to her anymore.

"Haley..." he murmured, the name of his lips a long suppressed groan of desire. She was so fragile and perfect beneath him, and he thought of how many times he had thought of this moment, and how much better it actually was.

When they were done and lying silently beside each other, Haley was exhausted both physically and emotionally. Still she could not sleep, and had no desire to.

"Thank you. That was amazing," she said.

"Thank you for taking me back."

Haley nodded, as though there had never been any question of her not doing so – even though there had been.

"We're in this now, right? This is what you want, and we're going to do it for real?" she asked.

"Yes, we are. Do you have to talk to your boss? Are there regulations against this?" he asked.

"No. Not officially. We just have to play it cool when we're around the kids. I mean the moms will suspect if you keep volunteering to chaperon school events, but..."

"Volunteer? Please."

Haley laughed appreciatively. He stared at her for a moment, as if he still could not believed it had happened.

"I can't believe we grew up in the same town and I never knew you existed."

"I was younger. I didn't start Tree Hill High until you had left it. And you wouldn't have noticed or liked me, anyway," said Haley.

"I find that hard to believe."

"Trust me."

Nathan shrugged.

"I like you now," he said. She smiled despite herself.

"Yeah, I know."

"Come here."

He opened his arms to her and she rolled towards him.

"Do you have to leave in the morning?" she asked sleepily. The next morning was Saturday.

"Not if you don't want me to," he said. He pulled her towards him, bridging the short distance between them until they were pressed up against each other in preparation for sleep.

"I don't," she said simply.

For a moment before drifting off to sleep, Nathan wondered how it would all work out. If Haley would be cool with living with Lucas and Cassie, or if the family would have to break apart.

But it was hard, to worry. Lying in her bed and not setting the alarm, able to anticipate being a real couple with her, sleeping with her in his arms, it was hard to think about anything else.

* * *

Author's note: For those interested in timeline: I think I forgot to mention it specifically, but the dance was a Christmas dance, so Haley and Nathan have been dating for about three months. Also thank you for still reading and reviewing my last chapter, I know it's been way too long between posts so I'm glad any of you are still interested in my story! And for those of you requesting more brucas and more father/daughter scenes don't worry, they're both definitely coming up.


	16. Switch Off, Switch On, and Explode

Chapter Sixteen: Switch Off, Switch On, and Explode

Author's note: If anyone can name the story of mine that contains a scene that the Brooke/Cassie scene resembles, they get ten points. I didn't not realize this until after I had written it, and the scene in question was a LONG time ago. So hopefully none of you remember?

* * *

"You said you wouldn't leave in the morning," said Haley, somewhat reproachfully.

Nathan smiled and allowed his hands to stop what they had been doing. The buttons on his shirt left unbuttoned, Haley allowed herself to admire his bare chest for a moment.

"So I did. What do you want to do today, Haley James?" he asked.

"Seriously? All day?"

"Luke can handle the girls. I think he was kind of expecting to. I'm all yours today," he said. Haley moved toward him. On her knees on the bed they were roughly the same height, and she leaned forward to kiss him. After a moment, she pulled away.

"Okay. Turn off your cell phone," she said. He fished it out of his pocket.

"Why?"

"Because if it's on you'll spend the whole time waiting for Lucas to call and tell you that there's some terrible catastrophe that you simply must deal with. It's not going to happen, so just turn off your phone. I'll turn off mine, I'll unplug the land line. And we can spend the day together," she said. Shrugging, he agreed.

* * *

"Morning Celia."

"Morning."

Lucas smiled briefly as his niece sat down before him at the kitchen table, anticipating an interrogation over her father's love life. He was surprised when she did not deliver, but did not say so.

"Hungry?" he asked. She nodded, and he placed a bowl of cereal in front of her. She ate it silently, surprising him further. Celia was not known for being taciturn. Something was off, but he could not put his finger on it. Not quite.

Immediately after finishing her cereal she sprang up and ran toward the hall. He followed her more slowly, and watched her as she grabbed the red leash off the hall table and called for the dog.

"Celia, is everything okay?" he asked, as she knelt and secured the leash around the golden retriever's collar. She nodded, attempting to look confused. He got the distinct impression that she had hoped to escape the house before he could question her.

"I'm going to take Shannon for a walk, okay?" she asked. Lucas continued to stare at her.

"Celia, where's Cassie? She's usually up before you," said Lucas suspiciously. Celia shrugged.

"So can I go?" she asked. Dread slowly began to build up, somewhere deep in his stomach. He ran toward the stairs.

"No."

Celia followed him quickly, her smaller feet lighter on the stairs.

"She's probably sleeping. I mean we were up late last night, she probably..."

Celia fell silent as they reached her cousin's room and Lucas flung open the door. The bed, though obviously slept in, was empty. He turned on Celia.

"Where is she?" he demanded. Celia did her best innocent shrug. "Cecelia Grace Scott, where the hell is she?"

Celia flinched as he swore, but remained firm. Groaning to himself, Lucas grabbed the hall phone from its cradle and dialed a memorized number. He swore to himself again, quieter this time, when there was no answer.

"Of course, the one time Nathan turns off his phone..." muttered Lucas to himself as he ran back down the stairs.

* * *

"So besides cutting ourselves off from the outside world, what do you want to do today?" asked Nathan. Haley smiled seductively at him. In a moment he had pulled her down on to the bed with him, all thoughts of cell phones forgotten.

* * *

"Come on, pick up..."

Celia watched nervously as her uncle made another phone call, murmuring to himself as he did so. He banged it down on the counter when it reached a mail box.

"Of course Nathan and Peyton aren't picking up their phones. Of course."

He turned to his niece.

"Celia, tell me where she is."

"I don't know where she is," said Celia firmly. Part of him believed her, but a larger part of him did not.

"Celia."

"Come on! Don't you think if she was in danger and I knew about it, I'd tell you?" she asked.

"Yeah, but clearly you know something."

Celia remained silent. Lucas reached for the phone for the third time.

"I'm going to call Jake to get him to come over and look after you, and then I'm going to go look for her. If I find out that you know something, or you helped her, you guys are both going to be grounded until you leave for college," he threatened. Celia frowned, but did not speak. Lucas dialed the phone.

He frowned when a familiar female voice picked up.

"Peyton?"

* * *

"Shit."

"What? Sorry, I thought I dialed Jake, I guess I dialed you by mistake. But you should come, because..."

"No, you dialed Jake. He's right here," said Peyton. She winced as she handed the phone over to Jake. He picked up hesitantly.

"Hey, Luke."

Lucas paused.

"Man, did I ever not see that coming," muttered Lucas.

* * *

As soon as she saw him, Peyton couldn't help herself. She launched herself into her ex – husband's arms and held him, her sympathy for him more than she could bear. Loving him so much in that moment, the love that she had had once for him that would never truly die.

He hugged her back, not surprised. Somehow in the moment it seemed completely appropriate, completely right. It was like she had never left his arms.

Slowly they released each other and he turned to face Jake.

"Sorry man. I was going to tell you, it just..."

"Not the time. But I get it. Can you guys go in and look after Celia? I'm going to take the car and look for her," said Lucas. Jake began to walk toward the house, but Peyton lingered. In an impulsive moment she grabbed his hand and lead him toward the house. They sat on the porch swing.

"What?" he asked.

"Come on. Tell me you haven't thought about this," she said.

"Though about what?"

"She didn't run away to join the circus, Luke. She's looking for her."

Lucas winced as realization set in. She was right, he realized.

"Damn it. **Fuck**."

Lucas stood to go, and Peyton stood with him.

"It's going to be okay," he said reassuringly. He laughed cynically.

"No it's not. But I guess I made my bed ten years ago, it's about time I lie in it."

Peyton smiled sadly. Impulsively he pulled her toward him and kissed her, kissed her in the way he had so many times before.

After a moment Peyton pushed him away.

"You don't want me, Luke."

He nodded. He kissed her forehead, tenderly.

"Go get our girl," said Peyton encouragingly. Lucas nodded and went, and Peyton went to go find Jake. She was feeling the oddest urge to sob again.

* * *

Amidst a flurry of tangled bedsheets, passionate moaning and whispers, Nathan distantly heard the doorbell.

He smiled down at his lover. They had been together for almost an entire twenty – four hours, longer than it had ever been before. He leaned down to kiss her briefly before wrapping a sheet around his lower body and going to answer the door.

He took an involuntary step back when he saw Lucas, out of breath and furious.

"Why the hell have you not been answering your phone?" he demanded.

"I turned it off. Luke, what's going on?" he asked.

"Cassie is missing. I just figured out where she is. Come on," said Lucas. Nathan nodded and disappeared back into the depths of the apartment without a word. He reappeared within moments, hastily clad in his dress pants and his dress shirt, unbuttoned over his wife beater. Haley was following him, confused.

"Is Celia okay? Where is Cassie? Do you need anything? Do you..?"

Lucas watched, interested, as his brother swiftly kissed her, effectively silencing her.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go. I'll call you," he promised.

The brothers exited together. Haley stared after them, marveling at how very similar they could be. And at how very different her life was from theirs.

* * *

Lucas drove quickly to the edge of town. Beside him, Nathan was bursting with questions but managing to subdue most of them.

"You know, you could have just gone without me. I wouldn't have minded," said Nathan. Lucas almost smiled.

"I would have. I needed you when Peyton left, man."

He paused.

"And I need you now. You're my brother."

In the simplest possible way, Nathan understood this.

* * *

"I know you know something that they're not telling me. And I'm not leaving until you tell me what it is," declared Cassie, slamming the door behind her. Brooke looked up in surprise, and her eyes slowly widened.

"Cassidy," she said in disbelief.

"It's Cassie. And why are you saying my name like that?" she demanded.

"Your father has to be the one to tell you," said Brooke.

"So you know there's something to tell," she said accusingly. Slowly Brooke nodded.

"Sweetie, does your father know you're here?" asked Brooke.

"No, of course not. Celia and I talked about it all last night and it took me all day to get here. I had to take three buses, and buses are pretty slow in Tree Hill. And Celia said she would try to stall him but he's not very stallable, and he's pretty smart so he probably figured out where I am so we probably don't have time, so you should probably just..."

The door banged open again, and Lucas and Nathan ran in.

"Brooke, what did you tell her?" he asked, looking shockingly like her daughter had a moment earlier.

"Nothing. I couldn't," she promised.

"Cassie, get in the car," he said, not taking his eyes from Brooke.

"No. I'm not getting in the car," she said stubbornly.

"Cassidy, maybe you should just go. I'm sure your dad will explain everything to you," said Brooke pleadingly.

"That's not true. You've had years and years to explain and you never ever did. Mom left and you still didn't."

Lucas finally turned to his daughter and saw the tears welling up in her eyes.

"So you know," he said, stating it as a fact.

"Of course I know! You treat us like we're kids, like we don't know what's going on, but we do."

She melted in to his arms when he reached her, and didn't protest when he lifted her in to his arms and began to carry her out of the room.

"Lucas?" called Brooke, her voice small. Lucas had already left. Nathan smiled sympathetically at her.

"Give it time," he suggested, following them out.

* * *

Cassie fell silent on the ride home and did not speak even when they pulled up into the driveway of the house. Peyton, Jake, Jenny and Celia were all waiting for them. Surprising everyone, Cassie threw herself in to Peyton's arms and refused to detach even after Celia pleaded with her.

Lucas moved to stop her as Peyton began to lead Cassie toward her car.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm taking her to Jake's. She doesn't want to be with you right now, Luke," said Peyton.

"You can't take her. She's my..."

"Ours. She's as much my child as she is yours, legally. You can fight me on this tomorrow, but today I'm taking her home and letting her sleep. She needs space."

Lucas nodded reluctantly and watched her go. Peyton wrapped her arm around her daughter and for the thousandth time whether or not they could actually work with the "two mommies" system.

At Jake's house, Peyton led Cassie up to the guest bedroom and after a moment's hesitation, climbed in beside her. She listened as Cassie slowly began to speak: about how long she had known or suspected that Brooke was her mother, about how she had known that her father was lying to her. About how she understood, finally, why Peyton had left.

* * *

It was dark, and nearly everyone in the house was sleeping. But the house was not over. Not yet.

Nathan was unsurprised when he opened the front door to see his brother's ex – lover. She smiled gently at him, her cautious, unsure smile.

"It's not the time, Brooke," he said. She nodded.

"I know, I just need to see Lucas. I need him to know that I didn't tell Cassie anything, that I wouldn't, that I had no idea she was coming to see me. I need..."

"He knows. Let him take it in, Brooke. It's been a long day."

Brooke opened her mouth to speak again but stopped when she saw movement at the top of the stairs. Lucas stood in his boxers, staring down at them in silence.

"Luke..." she whispered, so quietly that only Nathan could hear her. He disappeared again a moment later, leaving them alone again.

"Give it time," advised Nathan. He reached out and comfortingly touched her shoulder. She nodded.

"What do you think I've been doing for the past ten years?" she asked, rhetorically. Nathan nodded and watched her disappear in to the night.


End file.
